Tears in the Rain
by CatChester
Summary: What would have happened if Remy had been offered a place with the professor after the events of X-Men Origins? How would that effect Rogue's time at the school? There is an undeniable attraction between them, but would Professor LeBeau stoop so low as to sleep with a student?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Remy turned away from the kids; they were safe now, they didn't need him. He didn't know quite why he was sure that they were safe, he just knew that they were. The man who had collected them didn't mean them any harm, he'd stake his life on it.

___'There's room for one more,'_ he heard in his head.

Remy smiled. A telepath, of course. No wonder he felt reassured. Still, he had to be a pretty strong one to get past Remy's natural shielding. His powers had been reduced after his time as a prisoner on the Island but he still had a mental shield, even if it wasn't that strong.

___'I might be able to help with that,'_ the telepath told him, clearly having heard Remy's thought.

___'Thanks, but I'm not exactly the joining kind, mon ami. Besides, I gotta check on my buddy.'_

___'As you wish, but if you change your mind, look up Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Westchester, New York.'_

___'I'm a little old for school."_

___'I'll also be needing teachers. In any case, the offer stands.'_

"Thanks," Remy said out loud, before turning and heading back to where he last saw Logan. He turned back as he heard the jet take off, momentarily wondering if he'd made the right decision.

* * *

Remy looked over at the girl beside him. He was doing his best for her, really he was, but it just wasn't enough. He had taught her everything he could, which was namely how to steal, but a girl needed more than that. She needed proper schooling, friends and people her own age around to hang around with, not a thief with a hero complex.

She was 16 and at this rate she, like him, would be condemned to a life of crime. After all, without even a high school diploma, the best she could hope for living legally was minimum wage, flipping burgers or something similar.

Once again he thought about Charles Xavier and his school.

It had been about a year since he'd encountered the man on Three Mile Island and he'd been unable to forget the offer of a place at the school. He still maintained that he wasn't really the teaching kind, but this wasn't just for him anymore, it was for her.

She had been living from dumpsters and doing an awful job of picking pockets when he found her, and fool that he was, he just had to rescue her. His intention had been to find her family for her, but it quickly became clear that she had very little memory of her past, and so he had asked if she wanted to stay with him. He expected her to say no, he was hardly trustworthy after all, but she had agreed. He realised that she must truly be desperate.

She was a quick study and soon became an asset to him, but he was beginning to realise that if he didn't get her back onto a normal track soon, like him she would be condemned to living the dangerous life of a thief for hire.

He sighed and turned away from her. He'd think about it and if he still felt the same in the morning, he'd see what she thought of the idea.

* * *

Remy's first thought upon seeing the school was that there must be plenty worth stealing in such a house, but he quickly pushed that thought aside. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"You ready to go in?" he asked.

She looked frightened and he wondered once again, what had happened in her past. Was she afraid because she had no memory and didn't know what to expect, or had someone made her afraid.

"You'll stay with me?"

"For as long as you want, _petite_, and if you don't like it, we'll leave together."

She nodded, pushing a strand of white hair behind her ear. "Then let's go."

The door opened before they even knocked but Remy wasn't really surprised, this place was owned by a telepath, after all.

"Mr LeBeau, how nice to meet you, finally. And this must be Storm. Welcome." He turned away and they followed after him, a little disconcerted at his welcome. "I've had rooms made up for you. Although it's against regulations, I've given you adjoining rooms in the staff quarters, until you decide that you'd like to join the other students."

Even if he was a telepath, he must be incredibly strong to be able to tell that they were coming, Remy reasoned. Perhaps even strong enough to help Storm with her missing memories.

"I'll do my best," Xavier assured him, turning to face them now that they had entered what looked like an office.

"I don't like it when you read my mind," Remy said stiffly.

"And ordinarily, I wouldn't do so without permission, but I'm afraid that you are both broadcasting rather loudly. I'm sure it's nerves and that once you have calmed down and had a chance to settle in, your thoughts will be much quieter. Please, take a seat."

Remy sat down on the desk chairs that Charles had indicated and Storm sat beside him. Charles spoke mainly to Storm, explaining about the school and how he might be able to help her regain her memories. Once she had relaxed, he suggested that she might like a tour with one of the students. She looked to Remy for permission.

He smiled. "Go scope the place out for us." He winked which made her smile.

Xavier called another student, someone named Jean, and Storm happily left the office with the other girl.

"You're very good with her," Charles said once they were alone.

"She's easy to be good to," Remy brushed the compliment aside.

Charles gave him a look but didn't comment.

"So what're the fees?" Remy asked.

"No fees," Charles explained. "Only those who can afford it need pay."

"I can afford it," Remy bristled.

"Perhaps, but we both know that your gains are a little, shall we say, ill gotten?"

Remy conceded the point gracefully, after all, he wasn't ashamed of what he did. "My money's not good enough for you?"

"Not at all, I simply don't wish to receive fees from illegal sources. As I'm sure you can understand, we are a school for mutants, we can't afford to take any chances."

"You're worried I'll bring the wrong sort of people here?"

"Not at all," Charles tried to smile reassuringly. "At the moment we are simply a prep school for gifted children but eventually word will spread that we are actually a school for mutants. When that happens, certain powers will do whatever they can to bring us down, and I would rather not give them any ammunition."

Remy couldn't argue with that logic.

"So where do I fit in?" Remy asked.

"Where ever you want, but I would be obliged if you would consider a teaching position."

Remy looked around the office, feeling uncomfortable.

"I'm not really the kind to put down roots." He had the feeling that Charles didn't believe him, but it was the truth.

"I understand that you have your own... interests, Mr LeBeau, but I'm sure we can accommodate you should you need it."

"Let me get this straight, you don't want my money, but you'll employ a thief?"

"A master thief," Charles corrected. "I did some checking into you when I discovered that you were on your way here, and I can find no trace of a criminal record. Quite a feat, I would say."

Remy couldn't help but smile, taking it as a compliment. "Still, not exactly a trait you want in a teacher, _non_?"

"Let me show you something," Charles said.

He led Remy down to the lower levels of the school, where the X-men were housed.

"What is this place?"

My school actually has two functions," Charles explained. "The students are our public face but down here, that's where I and a few associates do what we can to keep mutants safe."

Charles explained how cerebro worked, and eased some of Remy's tension when he let slip that he had actually heard the school being mentioned in Storm's mind, not Remy's.

Remy was especially intrigued by the idea of the Danger Room, which was still being constructed. Still, the technology behind it was amazing, and Remy couldn't help but think how good it would be to have such a thing to train in when he was planning a heist. He could literally do a break in again and again until he got it right.

Then he remembered that he was with a telepath and turned towards Charles, looking a little bit abashed.

"I actually think that your skills, especially your stealth, could be a very big asset to the team."

Remy frowned, that wasn't the reaction that he was expecting.

"I understand that sometimes lines must be crossed, Mr LeBeau, and in the eyes of the law our group would be considered vigilantes, however I believe that what we are doing is for the greater good."

"So you'd have no problem with me upping and leaving for a few weeks to steal something?"

"I'm not your parent, Mr LeBeau, and from what I have gathered, even they approve of your lifestyle. As long as you aren't working against the mutant cause and keep your affairs to yourself, I leave your conscience to decide the rest for you."

Remy smiled, this seemed like an organisation that he could work with. Okay, it wasn't like the thieves guild, he wasn't being given approval to steal, but he was being given a free reign.

"Call me Remy," he said, holding his hand out.

* * *

Remy stayed at the school, with Storm, for three months, until the summer holidays. He found himself teaching French and self defence, as well as helping to construct the Danger Room, which was the brainchild of Charles and a friend if his, a blue mutant by the name of Hank McCoy.

The school only had twenty one students at the moment, ranging in age from 12 to 18, and Remy liked those numbers. His pupils were more friends than students and he liked that.

Thankfully his charm worked wonders on them and Remy never had to be a disciplinarian in the classroom. They wanted to please him. It seemed that they boys wanted to be him and the girls wanted to be with him (he'd seen his name scrawled in a few girls notebooks). He was never inappropriate though. He liked women but he knew where to draw the line.

Besides, his movements after school hours weren't restricted and the local town had quite a few bars, so he was never short of adult female company when he wanted it. He did try to tone it down though and keep it to a few night a week, and in fact he had more freedom now than he'd had after he had met Storm.

After three months though, he was beginning to get a little stir crazy and had decided to take off over the summer. There was a job he'd heard about that had piqued his interest, and he needed to stretch his muscles.

So far Charles' 'team of vigilantes' had only been in action twice. The first time was to rescue a local mutant who was being beaten, the second to collect a possible new student for the school from a religious cult. In the second instance, they didn't even have to resort to violence, though Charles had feared it, and in fact the cult seemed pleased to be free of the 'devil's spawn' as they had called the boy.

It broke Remy's heart to see an innocent boy being victimised for having a visible mutation, but then he had grown up with red on black eyes, so he could relate.

His unusual eyes had been turned to normal eyes while he was a prisoner on the island and oddly, he missed them. Sure, it had made growing up hard, but it was an aspect of himself that he had grown to accept and even learned to like. He resented Striker all the more for robbing him of his eyes.

Charles had spoken about psychic surgery to try and restore Remy's former power levels but Remy was still unsure. He liked it here but it wasn't in his nature to be trusting, and even less so when it came to someone poking about in his head.

He'd asked Storm if she wanted to go with him on this job, but she was settling in well and making friends so she preferred to stay. Only about half of the pupils were going home for the holidays, the rest were runaways or had been disowned, so she'd have plenty of company. And as much as he cared about the kid, she was growing up and he needed to give her the space to do so.

She was recovering some of her memories now, with Charles help, and they finally knew that her real name was Ororo Munroe, though she preferred to be called Ro or Storm. They had also discovered that her parents were dead, though they had very few details about that yet. As much as Remy hated that she was an orphan, a part of him was also glad that she wouldn't leave him to return to her parents.

Still, once he left the mansion, he felt relieved to finally be a completely free agent again. He had two months of complete freedom in front of him now, and he intended to make the most of it.

* * *

After two weeks away, he called the mansion to check in. After six weeks, he was missing the place a little. Two months after he had left, he found that he was looking forward to returning, after all, there's only so many casinos you can visit before they start to get old.

His job was complete and he had absolutely no qualms about it. During his time at the mansion, he had decided that the best way for him to keep up thieving and in all good conscience teach the students that theft was wrong, was to only rob bad guys. It worked very well to salve his conscience.

Of course, it was usually bad guys hiring him to rob another bag guy, but he could live with that. And besides, that meant that his fees came from bad guys, which was just a form of daylight robbery, really.

Over the next year he even had a few chances to put his skills to use as an X-man. First he had to case a suspected new base for William Striker then rescue the mutants being held there. Thankfully the base hadn't existed very long and it was relatively easy to get the prisoners out since there were only a handful. Of course, that didn't mean it was a cake walk, but Remy was very good at what he did.

He also blew up the base as they left, something that had not been sanctioned by Charles, but Remy was more than happy to endure his disapproval if it meant that it would take Striker a bit longer before he could set up again.

His second chance to use his skills came when he was tasked with retrieving a copy of the proposed Mutant Control Act. Government facilities were a breeze to Remy and he didn't even need the others help to retrieve a copy of the document.

Thankfully, when the full details were made public (leaked anonymously, of course) there was a public backlash and the bill was shelved, for a while at least. It kept coming back in more palatable formats over the next few years and slowly, as mutants became more common, or at least more widely known about, public opinion started to change.

More and more people began calling for such a law and a new bill was proposed, the Mutant Registration Act. It too would refuse to go away.

Remy played his part, stealing, bugging, following and generally making sure that the government and hate groups didn't get too out of hand.

At the end of that school year, Storm left for college. He hated it but he contented himself that it was what was best for her. She assured him that she would be coming back to the institute in the holidays, and to teach when she was finished. She stayed true to her word, meaning that while she was away at college, he spent more time at the school than ever before, simply because if he left for a job over the holidays, he wouldn't get to see her.

Finally he trusted Charles enough to let him perform his psychic surgery. It seems that Striker had tried a few different methods to limit Remy's power, the most dangerous being brain surgery that removed some brain tissue. Gambit explained that at one time he had had a secondary mutation that allowed him to heal quickly, which is probably why the CT scan of his brain hadn't shown any damaged tissue.

The most damaging of Strikers techniques had been his own attempt at psychic surgery. Whatever psychic he had used was clearly new and unsure of what he or she was doing, so the walls that had been erected in his mind were poorly placed and very thick.

It wasn't a simple procedure and took Charles 14 straight hours to undo the damage that Striker had done to his mind. When he was finished, Charles was nearing exhaustion and Remy was in a coma for two weeks. Remy had known that was a possibility though, so he wasn't upset when he woke up. And the first time he looked in a mirror, he was thrilled. He had his eyes back.

When his powers started to flair out of control while in Striker's custody, Remy hadn't had a chance to get used to his power as they'd kept him sedated, so Charles had to help him deal with power levels that were almost uncharted.

As he suspected, Remy was a class 5 mutant, as was Jean Grey. Unlike Jean though, Remy's full power was only manifesting now, when he was a fully grown adult and able to better control his emotions. When he learned the truth though, Remy suddenly realised why Charles had insisted on having Remy teach the ethics classes for the past year. With power like his, came great capacity for both good and evil.

Remy wasn't upset. He had no intention of ever creating a blast to rival a nuclear bomb, or anywhere close. He was however, thrilled to have both his eyes and his healing power back. Not only that, the static shield around his mind was back, preventing any psychics from reading his thoughts, and he had his empathy back, allowing him to sense the emotions of those around him. It had been so long that he had forgotten how it felt to constantly feel other peoples emotions, and it took some getting used to again.

His mutation needed a lot of work. Whereas before a medium charge would result in a bang but little damage, now it resulted in a car sized crater. He had to relearn how to use his gift, and put much less effort into everything than he used to.

In fact for three weeks, Remy lived in the danger room as it was the safest place in the mansion and able to withstand an awful lot of power. Still, when he finally emerged, he had his powers under control and although it took him another four weeks to repair the damage to the danger room, he felt that it was worth it.

When Storm finished college, she joined him on the X-men team, as did Scott Summers, who graduated college at the same time. Jean Grey joined them a year later when she finished her medical training.

Scott didn't like Remy, probably because he had a nasty habit of flirting with his girlfriend, but Remy didn't much care.

Although the school had expanded to around 50 students, Jean, Scott and Ro had taken on teaching responsibilities, meaning that Remy could take off for a while without worrying about leaving anyone in the lurch. Besides, his father had been wanting him to go home for some time now.

He knew he'd be back. He just didn't know when.

* * *

Remy had tried reconciling with his father but it hadn't gone well. After six months of trying, he blew up a table by accident, taking out three other rooms when it went off. He had left, knowing that it was his frustration with his family that had caused his mishap. Thankfully, no one was hurt but he knew that he couldn't stay there now. It simply wasn't safe with a power like his.

So he spent the next year travelling the country and taking on new jobs, until he began to feel home sick. Then he realised that home was no longer New Orleans, it was the mansion.

He returned to Xaviers school eighteen months after he had left.

There had been changes in his absence, namely that Scott was the team leader. Gambit didn't much like that but he found that if he dialled back the flirting with Jean, Scott became much more personable.

He settled back into life at the school with surprising ease and rarely felt the need to take on outside thieving jobs. Besides, he had more than enough money stashed away to last a lifetime, maybe two with all the poker he played on the side.

Everything in his life was good, until he saw her. Trapped in Logan's motorhome, in need of a hero and looking far too close to perfection.

He had never felt attracted to a student before. Sure, some of them were very beautiful and he could admire that beauty, but never had be had any desire to take it further. Until now.

He did the only thing that he could think to do, he left once more.

* * *

Rogue was slightly upset to find that 'the world's most dreamy teacher' was leaving just as she arrived, but she was so happy to finally find somewhere that she fit in, so she didn't think too much about it. Besides, they had hardly said two words to each other while he aided in her rescue, so she had no reason to think that it was her fault.

In his absence, Remy became something of a legend, his exploits exaggerated until he became George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis, all rolled together to make the most dreamy, sophisticated and bad ass hero that had ever lived. Rogue enjoyed the stories but she didn't really believe them.

That was until after Magneto kidnapped her, then she got to see him for herself, finally.

She was being checked over in the infirmary after her ordeal, but she knew she was fine. Logan had healed her so it was him that she was worried about, but she dutifully sat and allowed Jean a free reign, mainly because that meant that she got to stay down here, with Logan.

She couldn't believe that she'd almost killed him again.

That was when he came in, looking like sex on legs with a devil may care air about him, and she was forced to admit that perhaps the students hadn't been exaggerating. Well, not much.

"Rogue," he smiled at her. "I was sorry to hear what happened. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she smiled.

"I'm sorry, I should have been here. If I had been, maybe-"

"It's fine," she cut him off. "It's Logan that I'm worried about."

Remy finally looked over to the other bed, where Logan lay comatose.

He couldn't believe that he'd upped and left when Rogue was in danger. He couldn't believe that he owed Logan a debt of gratitude for saving her.

One thing was for sure, he wasn't leaving again. He couldn't have her for so many reasons, but he could keep her safe.

Besides, he wanted to catch up with Logan again, so it was easy to talk himself into staying.

"Here," he said, brandishing a pie dish, which he had kept hidden behind his back.

"Mississippi mud pie!" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"_Oui_, made by my own fair hands."

He had agonised over what to give her. He wanted to give her chocolates or roses, but knew that they weren't appropriate gifts from a teacher to his student. Baking seemed like a good choice, after all, people often baked for sick people, and he had been able to put some effort in without looking like a love sick fool.

"You cook?" Rogue asked.

"_Oui_." He placed the pie down on the table my her bed and got a plate and knife out from his pockets. "Enjoy, _petite_, and get well soon."

He turned away.

"You're leaving?" She sounded disappointed and his resolve almost broke. "Aren't you gonna share it with me?"

"I have class, _petite_, but Jean assured me that you will be free soon, and I know there's a lot of people who would be interested in sharing a slice with you."

Rogue nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Mr LeBeau."

"Oh no!" he looked aghast. "Hasn't anyone told you? No one calls me Mister Anything. It's Remy or Gambit."

"Why not Mister?" she asked.

"Makes me feel old,"

Rogue smiled, he didn't look a day over 25 and he was worried about feeling old!

"Okay, Gambit, I guess I'll see you in class?"

"_Oui, petite_. And try not to worry too much, Logan has survived much worse."

"Thanks," she smiled gratefully and Remy finally took his leave.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I don't normally reply to reviews in the fic but a lot of people might feel this way so i thought I;d address it here.

skylight14 said - "I think near the end, you kinda rushed through the rest of the story, maybe to finish the chapter."

I'm trying not to rehash the films too much since I assume you all saw them, so events in X1 and X2 are kind of glossed over, save for Rogue & Remy additions. From X3 we go a little off canon and it has a slightly AU ending, but what is similar to the film I have tried to keep interesting or brief. We're in completely new/original territory from Chapter 4 onwards.

**Chapter Two**

Rogue was intrigued by the new teacher and more than a little bemused by his fan club. Sure, he was hot, but not so hot that no one could resist him, yet it seemed like the entire female population of the school had a crush on him.

She could see why, he was charming, charismatic, and to hear him speaking French in lessons was positively orgasmic but still, he was just a man.

What she was surprised to learn was that Gambit was actually 30. It was quickly explained to her that his mutation allowed for rapid cell regeneration which, it was assumed kept him looking young. His healing properties were not as fast as Logan's, but he healed much faster than a normal person or mutant would.

Gambit was friendly with them, even slightly flirty at times, but he was always professional. They embarrassed him sometimes with inappropriate remarks, but the students seemed to enjoy it, and he was never short of a witty reply or put down when necessary.

Rogue quickly realised that the girls were trying too hard and that in fawning over him, they were actually turning him off. Not that she expected him to date a student, but at times it was clear to see this his smiles were only polite, not heartfelt.

She didn't want to be like that. She liked him, so she didn't want to be written off as a member of his fan club. She had also noticed that when he was with Logan, the pair had a teasing relationship, always giving each other grief, so Rogue decided to emulate that. She'd like it if he was a friend as well as a teacher.

Being Logan's friend meant that Rogue got to see a little of Remy away from the other students, when they hung out together, but she tried not to intrude too much.

She was surprised when both men agreed to teach her how to play poker. Growing up in the south she was used to a strict gender divide and a 'lady' just didn't play poker. Or smoke. Or drink liquor. Or swear. The list was endless and Rogue had always resented it, but neither man saw world like that, and she was glad of it.

She was also determined that they wouldn't have to dumb down the poker games when she played, so in between games she taught Bobby and John how to play so that she could improve her skills. Within a month she felt that she was on an even footing with them. Well okay, Logan and Gambit were both better than she was, but not that much better that she felt out of her league. They were also very good at giving her tips, which meant that more often than not, she was able to wipe the floor with John and Bobby.

They played for chips only, not cash but Logan and Remy seemed to have come to an agreement, whoever won the most chips bought the drinks on their next night out. Rogue was of course excused this when she lost as she was far too young to go drinking with them, but on the occasions when she actually managed to beat them both, one or other would take her into town at the weekend for an ice cream sundae.

Unfortunately she didn't win that often, but it did give her an incentive to improve.

* * *

Rogue had just enjoyed an sinful sundae courtesy of Remy, who at their last poker game had had the smallest pot and was therefore considered the loser. She always picked the most fattening thing on the menu when he took her out, mainly due to his insistence that's he needed some fattening up. Sometimes it felt like he was always trying to feed her up. When it was his night to cook, he always chose dishes that she found hard to resist and he always gave her a large helping. She didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or an insult, but eventually she decided that he just liked having another southerner around to enjoy his cooking.

Once they were finished, Gambit had to visit the liquor store to top up his and Logan's beer supply and rather that waiting in the car, Rogue visited the pharmacy at the same time. She was surprised when Remy came up behind her since she didn't think that she'd been here that long.

"_Petite_?" he asked.

Rogue was looking at hair die. She had overheard some of the other students making fun of her white streak and she was feeling self conscious. She hadn't wanted anyone to know that she was thinking of dying it though, in case they tried to talk her out of it.

"I'm only seventeen and I'm going grey," she finally admitted.

Remy took her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"I thought you liked it?"

"I did," she looked down, afraid to admit that she was giving in to peer pressure.

"But?" he prompted.

"I look weird," she admitted.

Remy put one gloved finger under her chin and gently tilted her face up.

"It makes you look beautiful, _ma chère_. And believe me, Gambit knows about women, so don't listen to anyone else." He gave her a teasing smile.

"You really think it looks nice?"

"_Non_, I think it looks beautiful."

Rogue blushed and was a little sorry when Remy stepped away.

"Yeah, like I'm gonna take fashion advice from a no good swamp rat."

He smiled, realising from her teasing that she was fine once again.

"Come on, _chère_," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders and leading her from the shop. "Before this swamp rat gives you a week of early morning training sessions for even considering colouring your hair."

She inhaled sharply. "You wouldn't!"

"Try me."

She was right though, he wouldn't.

He knew that some of the girls talked about Rogue behind her back, and he knew that they sometimes made fun if her hair but it was just jealousy.

She had Logan, Remy, John and Bobby eating out of the palm of her hand, and all without trying, plus, she had a mutation that should make her an instant turn off for any man. They just didn't understand it.

The truth was, they were trying too hard, trying to be fun and flirty and sexy. Rogue never tried, she was who she was and you could take her or leave her. To Remy, and many other men, that was far more appealing than someone who looked like they were playing dress up in their slutty older sisters wardrobe.

Most of the girls would learn in time and as they grew more confident with who they were, they would stop trying so hard. In the mean time, they would belittle the one girl who had got it right, even though it was actually Rogue's lack of confidence that stopped her from playing the game. She didn't think that she was even in the running, so why bother trying, right?

If it wouldn't get him fired, not to mention doing very little for his self respect, he would prove to her just how desirable she was but alas, all he could do was be there when she needed a friend.

* * *

The whole mansion was subdued in the wake of Jean's death.

Remy couldn't claim to be great friends with her, although they had been friends and team mates for a long time. He, Scott and Charles were also dealing with the after effects of becoming Strikers slaves. Remy and Scott especially, since they had previously been prisoners of Striker.

Jean was also Scott's girlfriend and so he was taking her loss especially hard. In fact he had hardly left his room since she died.

Logan too was having difficulty dealing, even though Jean had chosen Scott over him. He had left the mansion, heading god only knew where.

Rogue had found solace in the arms of Bobby. Their relationship had been budding before but in the wake of Alkali Lake, Jean's death, John's defection to magneto and Logan's departure, they became pretty inseparable. Remy told himself that he was glad, that if she had a boyfriend, it would be less temptation for him.

He couldn't quite get himself to believe that though.

Instead he occupied himself by upgrading the security system. He had installed the current system soon after he'd been take on, but he had been lax about upgrading it and it was badly out of date. This new system cost nearly a hundred thousand and was the best of the best, plus it had a few unique additions that he had added. Not only that, he would be reviewing security yearly, just to make sure that they were keeping up with the times.

There was no way he would risk someone like Striker breaking in again.

* * *

Remy entered Charles' office to see Storm already there. He accepted the tea that Charles poured for him and sat down to hear what this was all about.

"Some of the student from the graduating class have expressed an interest in becoming X-men." Charles explained.

"You mean now?" Storm asked.

"Yes."

"What about college?" Remy said. He knew that one of those who wanted want to join was Rogue, and he knew that she was far too young to start risking her life on missions.

"That troubled me too," Charles confessed. "Peter informs me that he doesn't want to go to college, and those are views he has expressed in the past so I'm inclined to believe him. It's not our job to force students into higher education."

"And the others?" Remy asked.

"I've looked into the possibility of home study degrees and providing the subjects they choose aren't too outlandish, I believe that we should be able to help them here."

"But we have other classes, Professor," Storm argued. "Besides, we aren't qualified to teach a degree."

"We won't be," Charles assured her. "Most of the knowledge they need will be supplied or available in text books. Our only job will be to help them should they need it."

Storm was quiet while she considered the professors words. She thought that a degree was necessary to succeed in life but Remy on the other hand, didn't have any proper schooling. He thought that a person's character was far more important than their qualifications.

"They're too young," Remy finally admitted.

Storm looked over at him, clearly not having considered that before. The X-men were essentially down three people; Jean was dead, Scott was grieving and Logan had gone, no one knew for how long.

That left the professor, who wasn't exactly useful in the field thanks to his disability, Storm and Remy. Two people hardly made a team so although she sounded reluctant, Storm had to agree with Remy.

"He's right, professor, they're only eighteen."

"They are young but hardly inexperienced," Charles continued. "And I have no intention of sending them on a mission until both you and Remy are satisfied with their training."

That cheered Remy up a little, that he could veto their involvement if he though they weren't ready.

"At the end of the day, it is their choice, and I will abide by their decision," Charles continued. "I expect you will both want to talk to them and I welcome your input, but please don't try to badger or browbeat them. They are adults now and they deserve the right to make their own choices."

Remy nodded. He wouldn't refuse Rogue if she really wanted to join, but equally he would make her aware of just how foolish he thought it was.

* * *

Remy was heartened slightly when Bobby changed his mind about going to college but Rogue insisted that she still wanted to join the X-men. Bobby changed his mind again, but at least Remy knew that she wasn't doing this for some boy.

They had argued about it often and now were hardly on speaking terms.

Remy had no choice but to accept the decision of all the students, but he and Storm devised the most rigorous training programs for them in the danger room. Partly it was to drive home how difficult this job was, but mostly it was to make sure that they were ready. All the kids who wanted to join, Rogue, Bobby, Pete and Kitty, had the courage necessary, what they lacked was the training and field experience.

* * *

"I hate you," Rogue glared at Remy over the poker table.

"You say that now," Remy answered with a smile, "But you'll be singing a different tune when I take you to the ice cream parlour."

"I won't even be able to walk by the weekend," she grumbled, and Bobby nodded in agreement.

With Logan away, Remy felt that he had to invite Bobby to join their poker nights. It wasn't that he didn't trust himself alone with Rogue, but he did find having a chaperone comforting. Plus, Bobby had just lost his best friend, John, to Magneto. As much as Remy didn't like him (no one would be good enough for his Rogue) the kid was hurting.

"Can't you tone down the training sessions," Bobby asked. "Just for a few days."

"_Non_. What we're teaching you will keep you alive."

"But this isn't a real mission," Rogue argued. "Besides, I'll bet you didn't have to go through all this to join."

Remy looked at her over his cards, wondering how much to reveal. His past wasn't a secret, but he also didn't speak of it much.

"_Non_," he finally admitted. "But I spent my whole childhood training."

Rogue's jaw dropped.

"Really?" Bobby asked.

"_Oui_." He sighed, knowing that now he would have to explain. "I'm not a master thief by accident, _chère_, my whole childhood was a lesson. The guild taught me the basics, reading, writing, math, but the rest of my days were spent learning how to walk silently, how to fight when necessary, how to pick a lock with my feet."

"With your feet!" Rogue exclaimed.

"_Oui_. My father wrapped my hands in tape and left me handcuffed to my bed until I learned how to do it."

"What would have happened if you hadn't learned?" she asked, appalled that any father would do that to his son.

"The few who couldn't do it were released after about a week."

"A week?" she echoed.

"How long did you take to get out?" Bobby asked.

"Twelve hours."

They both looked at him in shock, and perhaps awe.

"I learned early on that there was no mercy in the guild so I had two choices, get on with it and get it over with as quickly as possible, or lie there whining and wait for someone to release me from my own filth after a week."

"That's horrible," Rogue said kindly.

Remy looker over at her, liking the sympathy he saw in her eyes, even while he knew that she needed to toughen up.

"Sometimes I thought so too, until that trick saved my life. Jean-Luc was many things, but he wasn't needlessly cruel. Truth is, the world is a tough place, _chère_, and if you want to survive it, you need to realise that."

Rogue and Bobby shared a look, but they stopped complaining about aching muscles and minor injuries after that.

* * *

News of the cure swept through the mansion and had everyone talking. Some hated it, some were able to see both sides, and some thought that it would be a blessing for those who wanted to take it. Remy noticed that those who were in favour of the cure were generally ones who had a visible mutation or those who had suffered other hardships, such as being rejected by their families.

Remy didn't hate the cure but he also didn't love the idea either. He had experienced bullying thanks to his visible mutation, his eyes, but he also vividly remembered how it felt the first time he'd looked in the mirror after they were gone; he felt like he was looking at someone else.

As a result of his work with the professor, he now had them back to their natural red and black, and he would not be wishing them away any time soon. As was often the case, he felt that many people who took this cure wouldn't realise what they would lose until it was too late.

His first concern was obviously Rogue. Her mutation wasn't visible but it was debilitating. He had no doubt that she'd get it under control one day but when you were a teenager, 'one day' felt like an eternity. He was almost certain that she would take the cure.

Remy looked down at the pond as Bobby and Kitty skated across it's surface. He prayed that Rogue couldn't see them. But he knew her room was on the same side of the mansion as his, so she probably could. He didn't think Bobby was cheating on her; everyone was pretty cut up about the professor's death and Bobby was just trying to cheer up a friend. Unfortunately Remy also knew how it would hurt Rogue to see Bobby with Kitty, to see Bobby with any woman that he could touch, really.

Against his better judgement, he made his way to Rogues room and knocked gently.

"It's open."

He went inside and could see from her position that she had been staring out of the window too.

"How're you holding up, _chère_?"

She shrugged and sat heavily on the side of her bed. Remy sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. To his surprise, she put one arm around his back and rested her head on his shoulder. When he felt the tell tale tremors that meant she was crying, he pulled her into a proper hug and just held her as she cried.

He had never been in such an intimate position with Rogue before, he had made sure of it, but so few people were willing to touch her let alone hug her, that he couldn't refuse her in her time of need.

"It's all right, _chère_," he said, trying to reassure her, so he was surprised when she pulled away.

"It's not all right!" She buried her face in her hands as she continued to cry.

Remy was smart enough to realise that this wasn't just about the professor or Bobby.

"What's up?"

She cried harder for a few minutes while he gently stroked her back, but Remy didn't press her for an answer. She had heard the question and would answer, or not, in her own time.

"You'll hate me." She sniffed.

"I could never hate you."

She looked over at him, seemingly trying to gauge the truth in that statement. She looked away and when she finally spoke, he had to strain to hear her.

"I... I'll never touch."

He realised why she felt bad. While the other students were upset over the loss of a teacher and a mentor, Rogue was also mourning the loss of someone, possibly the only person, who could help her control her mutation. She felt selfish for feeling that way. Sometimes it frightened him how well he could understand her.

"Maybe you won't," he said, because as much as he hoped that wasn't the case, he couldn't say for sure and he would never lie to her. "And being upset about that doesn't make you a bad person."

"Yes it does." She broke down in tears again and Remy pulled her back into a hug. She resisted at first but finally gave in and accepted the comfort he offered.

He didn't know how long he held her, but it was quite a while until she finally pulled away and wiped her eyes. Remy missed the contact but he didn't try to stop her.

"Thank you," she said, offering him a small smile.

"Any time, _chère_." He returned her smile. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "Actually, I think I'm finally ready to sleep."

He wasn't surprised, crying could be exhausting. He placed a final kiss on her hair.

"Come get me if you need anything," he said, finally taking his leave.

He had enjoyed that far too much, he realised as he returned to his own room. He was her friend and she was in pain, he shouldn't enjoy the fact that she needed him, he shouldn't be glad that Bobby was neglecting her, and he really shouldn't want to remember what it had felt like to hold her.

He shouldn't be the one here comforting Rogue, it should be Bobby, her boyfriend. He had no right to be here in her room, enjoying the feeling of her pressed up against him. What the hell was Bobby doing cheering up some other girl anyway? Rogue should be his priority!

He collapsed onto his bed, certain that things were going to get a lot worse, for all of them, before they got better.

* * *

When Remy heard that Rogue had left the mansion, he didn't need to ask where she had gone. He shouldn't be leaving now, things were too chaotic, but he headed straight to the garage anyway.

The closest clinic was in New York which was about an hour's drive away, unless he used the booster button on his bike, which he did. He made it there in under thirty minutes and headed for the biggest clinic, the one what was on most of the local news reports.

Thankfully she was not only there, the queue was so long that she wasn't anywhere near to being seen yet. He made his way along the line and stood beside her.

She stiffened when she noticed him and glared. "Go away, swamp rat."

It wasn't said with her usual affection.

"Can't do that," he answered honestly.

"Why not?"

"Because you have the rest of your life to take this cure but once it's done, you can't take it back."

"I want to do this, I want to be normal."

"Maybe I want that too."

"You want the cure?" She was stunned out of her anger.

"You know, there was a time when I was a danger to everyone around me. My powers were out of control. Not only could I kill with a single look, I did." His voice was soft now. He had never told anyone else that secret.

"D- Did you want to?" she asked, her voice equally soft.

"No. Like I said, I couldn't control it. I killed a lot of people, _chère_. Hurt many more."

She took his hand which surprised him, Rogue hardly ever initiated physical contact with anyone.

"What happened?"

"Striker and his men happened. They kept me sedated until they'd figured out how to reduce my power."

"That's what I want too," she admitted. "I don't want to be dangerous."

Remy tried not to snap at her, after all, she didn't know how awful being a prisoner of Striker had been.

"I thought it was a good thing too, once. Then I realised that he'd taken away who I was, or at least big part of who I was. That's why the professor undid it for me."

"But you can control it now."

Remy looked down at her and cupped her face in his gloved hands.

"Can I?" he asked. "I'm a class 5, _chère_, one moment of rage or terror, and I don't know if I could stop myself." He remembered when he had blown up a table at his families home.

"But you do so much good! You can't.." she looked around to make sure no one was listening in, then lowered her voice to a hiss. "You can't leave the X-men!"

"No, I can't," he admitted. "But if the cure had been available when my powers grew out of my control, I would probably have volunteered to take it. I still live with the guilt and part of me thinks that I don't deserve to play the hero."

"You don't play, Gambit, you are a hero."

He smiled slightly but she could tell that he didn't believe her.

"I'll make you a deal, _chère_. No one should have to go through this alone, so you take the cure and I will too. You tell me you want to try for a bit longer, and I'll help you."

"What can you do that the professor couldn't?" she asked sullenly.

"I don't know, but I have a few ideas. Always did think that Chuck was going easy on you," he said with a hint of a smile, finally garnering a smile in reply from her. "So is that a yes?"

She sighed and finally nodded.

"Come on, _chère_, let's go home." He placed an arm around her shoulder and led her away from the queue.

"Can we stop for a sundae before we go back?" she asked.

"Anything you want," he assured her, just happy that he had bought her some time.

* * *

"Why didn't you ask if it had anything to do with Bobby?" Rogue asked as they were sitting in the ice cream parlour.

"I already know the answer."

She looked puzzled but didn't ask anything else and continued eating her sundae.

"I think I'm gonna break up with him," she confessed a few moments later.

Though the thought gladdened his heart, Remy forced himself to be impartial.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because he deserves someone he can touch, someone he can... be intimate with."

"Sex is just one form of intimacy, _chère_."

She looked at him like he was crazy. "We can't do the other stuff either."

"I include foreplay and kissing with sex."

Now she really looked confused. "This from the ladies man?"

Remy didn't brag about his exploits at the school, but they weren't exactly a secret and being Logan's friend, Rogue knew more than most.

"They're not relationships, Rogue. Sex is great, sure, but it's only a small part of a relationship. Real intimacy comes from absolute trust and respect."

"Don't you feel anything for those women?"

"I like them, of course, but I don't love them." How could he when he, was already in love with Rogue. "Sex is just sex, Rogue, and you can get that anywhere, but intimacy is so much more. I haven't had that in..." his words trailed off.

"Since?"

Remy sighed, he could never deny her. "Since I was a teenager. There was this girl back home, Belladonna."

"And you loved her?"

"_Oui_." He smiled sadly. "We were even married, very briefly."

"What happened?"

"Her brother didn't like it, us, and things ended... badly."

"I'm sorry." Rogue looked down at her ice cream.

"Don't be. It was a long time ago, I'm over it. What I'm really trying to say is that love and sex don't always go hand in hand. If he loves you, he'll wait forever."

Rogue smiled, then reached out and stole a spoonful of Gambits rum raisin ice cream, mainly because she knew he hated it when anyone stole his food.

"Hey!" he slapped her hand but smiled at her cheek.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

No matter what Remy said, Rogue was going to speak to Bobby when they got back, though the break-up part was still under advisement.

"Oh, thank god!" Bobby said, pulling her into his arms the moment she entered the mansion. "I was so worried."

_'Not worried enough to come after me,'_ she thought but didn't say anything. She also didn't say whether or not she had taken the cure. She didn't know what his reaction would be but it would be telling, one way or the other.

"Bobby, can we go some place and talk?" she asked.

"What?" he pulled away and it took him a moment to register her words. "Yeah, sure."

Rogue took one last look over her shoulder at Gambit, who gave her a reassuring smile, before following Bobby up to his room.

She had kept her hands in her pockets ever since she got back and as Bobby closed the door after her, he finally noticed.

"You took the cure?" he asked. He tried to keep his tone even but Marie could hear the excitement in his voice. Because she didn't want to show her hands, he assumed she wasn't wearing gloves, a tell tale sign that she had taken the cure.

"No." She pulled her gloved hands out of her pockets.

"Oh." He didn't hide his disappointment nearly as well as his former eagerness.

"Look, Bobby, the reason I wanted to talk is to see if you think we should stay together."

"What? You're breaking up with me?"

"No, I'm asking your opinion on breaking up."

"Why?"

The heightened emotions of the day finally got to her and she and sat down on the bed.

"I'm tired, Bobby."

"What do you mean?"

"Of us. I love you, but I'm tired of wanting to kiss you and knowing that I can't. I'm tired of only being able to hold your hand. And I'm tired of being jealous of every other girl who can touch you, while I can't."

"Rogue, I would never-"

"I know, Bobby, but this isn't about you, it's about me. I hate seeing you touch other people, even if I know it's innocent."

"So what, you want me to stop touching people?"

"No!" Rogue sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I just want to know how you feel about us, Bobby."

"I love you."

Rogue decided she had to spell it out for him.

"I still have my powers and with the professor gone, I may never learn to control them. Can you live with that?"

She could tell from his expression that he couldn't, but he didn't want to be the bad guy. He deserved better than her, he deserved someone who could love him in every way.

"It's over, Bobby. I'm sorry but I can't do this any more."

"But Rogue-"

"No. I do love you, but I don't think that's enough any more."

"Why?"

She realised that she was going to have to be cruel to be kind. She didn't really mind being the villain of this piece.

"Because you remind me of everything that I can't have."

Bobby looked crushed.

"I'm sorry." She rushed from his room before he could see her tears.

She barrelled along the hallway to her room, half blinded by tears, but as she opened her door, she could see a shape on her bed and knew exactly who it was.

He stood up and she clung to him as though her life depended on it.

"Shh, it's okay, _chère_. Everything's gonna be okay."

They both knew that was a lie. With Jean back and Magneto amassing an army, everything was about as far from okay as it was possible to get. Still, it was exactly what Rogue needed to hear.

* * *

Rogue was trained in combat but she didn't have a mutation that could work over distances and as such, she needed a partner.

Kitty had a similar problem, but at least she could become intangible when she needed to. As such, Kitty was pared with Peter. Peter could turn Kitty to metal when she needed it and she could could make him intangible when they needed it. Opposite ends of the same spectrum, if you like.

Logan wanted to partner Rogue, but he also knew that he was the only one who could stop Jean. Gambit wanted to reply that he too stood a fair chance since he was a level five also, but he understood that Logan still hoped to talk Jean down. Besides, Remy really wasn't happy with the idea of using that much power. What if he lost control? Then Jean might not be the problem, or at least not the only problem.

As such, Remy took on the role of Rogue's partner, mainly because he didn't trust the others to watch out for her as well as he or Logan would. Now that his mutation was back to full strength, it allowed him to charge material, even organic material, at a distance, meaning that he could take out anyone who got too close to Rogue. He had to be careful, of course, because if he charged someone too close to Rogue, she could be harmed by the blast as well.

He was rather concerned though, because in an already stressful situation where they were facing another class 5 mutant, if anything happened to Rogue, he didn't even want to think about what he could be capable of.

"You okay?" Rogue asked, placing her hand on his arm as the jet headed to San Francisco.

"Fine, _chère_, just... I'm fine."

* * *

The battle was brutal and although all the X-men were well trained and powerful mutants, the sheer numbers of opponents meant that they were losing. Remy kept his eye on Jean, waiting for her to enter the fray, because then he might have to step up his own power, out of his usual comfort zone. He needed to brings things to an end quickly.

Rogue was just finishing off a green haired man when an idea occurred to him. He pulled off his glove.

"Rogue!" he called, holding his hand out towards her. He wasn't worried about her taking his powers because firstly, she wouldn't be taking enough to make her a class five mutant. Well actually he suspected she might be a class five herself, but until she could control it he couldn't verify that. What he meant was that they were in no danger of her vaporising the city. Secondly, when she absorbed gifts, she seemed to instinctively know how to use them, possibly she absorbed that knowledge at the same time.

Rogue looked at him like he was nuts.

"I have to go and I won't leave you here with a passive power!"

Rogue pulled off her glove and lightly touched his hand. Remy gripped it firmly, counted up to three Mississippis, then pulled away.

"You good?" he asked.

Rogue nodded, turning to the closest mercenary and blowing him to pieces. That was all Remy needed to see and he took off towards the side of the island. As far as he could see, no civilians remained on the bridge, but there were a lot of Magneto's men still standing at one end, waiting to be sent into battle. Remy focused on the centre of the structure, blowing it to kingdom come.

As expected the bridge, which had been supported at each end by the island and the mainland, began to sink in the middle. Magneto caught it before too many of his followers fell into the water, but the point was that now he had to maintain his concentration on it to keep the bridge in place. Carrying the whole bridge from the mouth of the bay to the island must have already taken a lot out of Magneto and Remy hoped that this would drain him even further. The more energy he was expending keeping the bridge afloat, the less he had to focus on or help with the fight.

Remy fought his way back through the crowd, taking down as many as he could and taking out those who posed too much of a threat. The X-men didn't like taking a life, but that was an ideal and there were always exceptions.

From the corner of his eye he saw one mutant get close enough to land a punch on Rogue, and the next thing he knew, three mutants blew up with far more energy then he had intended to charge them with. Thankfully he hadn't set his sights on the one near Rogue or she would have been seriously hurt by the blast.

He was pleased to see that she quickly knocked the mutant who had hit her out. She had his power well under control and was using it efficiently.

"Did you miss me?" he asked as he came upon her, scooping up some gravel and hurling the charged rocks into the crowd.

"Like a hole in the head, swamp rat."

Two mutants were emerging from the building behind them, in their blind spot and they were far too close to blow up. With an unspoken agreement, Remy gave Rogue the lift and spin she needed to boot them both in the face, sending them careening backwards. Now at a safe distance, Remy followed her assault up with two charged cards, knocking them out.

The X-men were all flagging and Remy was tempted to just charge each and every one of Magneto's mutants and let them all die. These were his friends being attacked after all, and he had the power to end this now. Well, providing Jean Grey didn't get involved.

But Charles' words ran through his head. _'Just because you can, doesn't mean that you should.'_

The risk was too great and if he lost control for even a second, all would be lost.

Then the tide seemed to change. Wolverine and Beast gave Magneto the cure, Jean stepped forward, clearly angered and the whole island seemed to vibrate.

Gambit fought back. She was using her telekinesis to separate the atoms, so he used his power to charge the matter in everything on the island. He didn't give it much charge, just enough to make a pop should he release it, but enough to stop the island from disintegrating.

Jean and Gambit were fighting for the same atoms, essentially cancelling each other out until Jean upped her game. Remy followed suit.

He was glad that his power protected him from telepaths because from the looks Jean was giving him, he had a feeling that he'd be writhing in agony right about now if he wasn't protected.

He looked over to Rogue who was glowing a faint shade of magenta, and he realised that he was playing a very dangerous game here. If he lost control for even a second, the whole island would go up, but if he didn't charge everyone and every thing here, Jean would vaporise them.

Jean was strong, hellishly strong and it took all of his concentration to keep meeting her increases in power, without losing control and letting everything explode.

He saw Logan heading to Jean and felt Jean's power lessen slightly. Remy reduced his charge also.

He couldn't fight any more, he was too busy keeping the island intact, but Rogue had his back and soon after, Beast too.

Jean's power dipped again and Remy reabsorbed more of energy out of the island, to ensure that it didn't blow up.

He had never created so much energy before, nor had he ever tried to reabsorb so much before. He briefly wondered if giving Rogue his powers earlier had weakened him a little. He didn't feel as if it had but he couldn't say for certain. Nevertheless, he would do the same again.

He dropped to the ground as he saw Wolverine impale Jean and her telekinesis stopped all together. Remy placed his bare hands against the rock, reabsorbing up as much of the kinetic energy as he could.

He saw Rogue kneel down beside him and try to do the same. He wanted to tell her no, that it was too much, too dangerous but he could hardly form a coherent thought, let alone vocalise one.

It was too much, too much energy, too much charge, too much... What if Rogue couldn't handle the energy that she had reabsorbed?

He felt something wet on his lip and tasted blood as the island and it's inhabitants finally stopped glowing, then he felt a wave of darkness overwhelm him and although he fought it, the darkness was stronger.

* * *

"Do you know how long I've been waiting?"

Remy smiled at the words.

"M' sorry, _chère_, must've had a hard night on the booze."

He sat up and realised that he was in the med lab. He tried to piece together what happened but so far, his mind was a blank.

"What happened?" he asked Rogue, who was smiling at him. "No, scratch that. Coffee first, then tell me what happened."

He tried to get out of the bed but Rogue stepped in front of him before he could jump down.

"_Mon dieu_," he said, wondering why such an easy task as sitting up could take so much out of him.

"You've been out for a whole day," Rogue admonished gently. "Take it easy."

Remy nodded but quickly stopped when it seemed to start a pounding behind his eyes.

"Here." Rogue handed him some pills and a glass of water. "Hank said you should take these when you woke up. It's a pain killer, iron supplements and a multi vitamin."

Remy didn't know why he needed those things, other than the pain killer, but he took them anyway then lay back down.

"Maybe I'll just go back to sleep, have a little... cat...nap..."

He felt Rogue's hand caress his cheek before he fell into another deep slumber.

* * *

The next time he awoke he felt much better. Like he'd done two rounds with Juggernaut, but that was better than the ten rounds he felt as though he'd done the last time he woke up.

"Ah, you're awake, good." Remy turned to see Hank at the side of his bed. "She knew you'd be waking up soon."

Remy felt disappointed when he looked to the other side of his bed to see that Rogue was gone.

"How do you feel?" Hank asked.

"Better," Remy said, though he didn't feel like giving a detailed analysis of his condition just jet.

"Good. You lost a lot of blood-"

"Blood?" That got Remy's attention.

"Yes. It seems that you were overwhelmed when trying to reabsorb your charge. Your blood pressure spiked dangerously high and you began bleeding."

"Surely if my blood pressure was high enough for me to lose blood, shouldn't I have had a stroke or heart attack or somethin'?"

"Quite right. Luckily we were at a medical research facility and I was able to use their equipment to transfuse some of Logan's blood into you. That combined with your own rapid healing factor, seems to have saved you."

Remy took a few deep breaths then a horrible thought occurred to him; if he'd had a stroke, maybe his mutation was gone, like when Striker had performed brain surgery on him!

"Doc, what colour are my eyes?"

"Black on red," Hank assured him. "I've been running EEG and CT scans and you don't seem to have suffered any long term effects."

Remy let go of the breath he'd been holding.

"You're up!"

Remy looked over to the doorway to see Rogue coming in, with a large mug in her hands.

"Please tell me that's for me!" Remy practically begged.

"Of course," Rogue smiled and placed the mug of coffee in his hands.

He sipped it and closed his eyes to better enjoy the caffeine hit.

"Mmm. _Chère_, I may just have to employ you as my personal barista."

"You couldn't afford me," she teased.

"If ever a woman was worth getting into debt over, it's one that makes coffee like this."

"I love you too," she teased. "Now, what do you say we blow this joint, I know there's a lot of folks upstairs who are dying to see you."

Remy looked to Hank. He didn't like hospitals and wouldn't be here a second longer than he had to be, but he also wasn't foolish enough to disobey Hank's medical opinion.

"That's fine, my boy, but please come back if you start to feel light headed, nauseous-"

Remy could tell the list was about to get a list so long that he'd be checking back in for a sneeze, so he cut hank off.

"Anything unusual an' I'll be back, doc."

"Good. Now get out of here, I have seen quite enough of you in my medical bay!"

Remy smiled. When he'd first come to the school Hank had been the resident doctor, until he began to rise in the world of politics. Back then it had been a running joke to them who was worse off, Remy for having to be in the medical bay, or Hank for having to put up with him.

"Come on, Cajun," Rogue smiled. "Let's get you up stairs and get some proper food in you."

Remy got off the bed and Rogue linked her arm through his for support, in case he was still weak.

"What would I do without you, _ma petite_ river rat."

"I don't know, swamp rat, but in my absence, Logan would probably have hauled your unconscious ass back to the blackbird."

"Good to know." He smiled; it felt nice to know that she had been the one to rescue him. There was something about the idea that she was looking after him that made him walk a little taller.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I'm starting to remember why I stopped posting on FFnet. Not only do I have to reformat italics etc, now I have discovered that it hasn't even kept the scene breaks. That might have made the first few chapters a little confusing, so sorry about that. It has been corrected if you wanted to go back and read again.

And thank you to everyone who has commented on this fic so far. You have no idea how inspiring your messages are, and I hope you continue to enjoy it.**  
**

**Chapter Four **

"So, _chère_, you ready to start working on your powers?" Remy asked.

It had been two weeks since the fight against Magneto and life was back to normal. Or as back to normal as things got around here.

Even Logan had stayed. Remy would have bet good money that he would take off until he had come to terms with Jean's death, but he seemed to be handling it pretty well.

Rogue bit her lip as she considered Remy's question."

"I don't know, what would be involved?"

"First, can you tell me what it feels like with your power always on?"

"It doesn't feel like anything."

"You don't have any sensation at all?"

"Not until I touch someone, then I can feel the life drain out of them. It burns, but not too hot, not painful. And of course there are the voices in my head, but the professor helped me get them squared away and his techniques still seem to be working."

Remy thought that was odd, almost every mutant could feel a change in their body when they turned their gifts on. Maybe Rogue was so used to her powers that she couldn't feel it any more, like if you live by a motorway or railway tracks, you get used to the constant noise and stop noticing it.

"Okay, well I think the biggest problem with your powers is that you don't have much experience using them."

He had discussed that with the professor many times but Charles had always said that Marie's problem was a mental block. Well Gambit didn't disagree, but physical action often helped to overcome a mental block. Like sometimes the only way to get over say, an irrational fear of flying, was to take a lot of flights.

"Well duh!" Rogue rolled her eyes.

"Good, then you agree. Meet me in the danger room tomorrow at 10AM." He got up and left her room.

"Why?" she asked, giving chase down the corridor. "What are we going to do?"

Remy had hoped not to tell her but could see now that he had little choice. He stopped and turned to face her.

"You're going to be using your powers on me and Logan," he said.

She blanched. "You can't be serious!"

"Deadly serious," he said. "Logan and I both heal fast so we'll recover in minutes as long as the contact isn't too long. Be there!" His tone brooked no argument.

Rogue looked after him as he walked away, a stunned expression on her face. He couldn't mean that, surely. He was volunteering to be drained? And had seemingly talked Logan into it too! No, she couldn't do it, she couldn't willingly hurt people that she cared about.

She stumbled back to her room as her mind came up with a hundred an one excused for why this was a very bad idea.

* * *

"You're late," Remy said as Rogue stepped into the danger room.

"It's a Sunday," she snapped. "I'm allowed."

Logan was leaning against the wall, waiting to get started.

"Logan and I made it here on time, you will too in future."

"No, I won't, because this is a crazy idea."

She turned to leave but Remy's next words stopped her cold.

"You are the only mutant at this school to ever graduate without having learned to control their gift," he said. He could see her wince as his words hit home but he pressed on. She had to do this, learn to control her gift, if she was ever going to have any hope of a normal life. He was being cruel to be kind and while he hated hurting her, he knew she needed this push. "You will do exactly what I tell you, or you will be kicked out of the school and fired from the X-men.

She turned back around, looking horrified. This was the only place that she had ever fit in, she didn't want to leave it. She wasn't sure she could stand being among humans again.

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me," he said, his words all the more believable for the menacing undertone he gave them. She had never heard him sound like that before. "Take off your gloves," he ordered.

Though she looked mutinous, Rogue did as he said.

"Good. Now it seems to me that there are three aspects to your gift, you absorb energy, memories and with mutants, gifts."

"Duh!" she rolled her eyes, trying not to show how much Remy's earlier threats had hurt her.

"Have you ever tried to separate these powers?" he asked. "Used one without the others?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't work that way, it's all or nothing."

"I disagree," Remy continued, taking her arm and almost dragging her further into the room. "Many mutants have more than one power, but they use them separately. Today you're going to focus on absorbing memory."

Remy had put together a list of questions about both himself and Logan and Rogue had to absorb them to find the answers. Some answers would be easy, others would require much more digging around in their heads. After he had explained everything, he handed her an envelope full of paper slips and ordered her to pick one.

"The question is for you," Rogue said sullenly. "It's-"

"Don't tell me," Remy insisted. "If I'm thinking about the answer it'll be easier to find."

He held his hand out towards her and while she was hesitating, her hand did inch closer and closer to his. With just millimetres left, she looked up into his eyes.

Remy reached out and grabbed her hand, giving her no choice in the matter.

He had never properly felt Rogues power before, he had only shared brief touches with her until now, which weren't long enough for her to start absorbing him properly.

He held on for perhaps fifteen seconds before he grew dizzy and fell to the ground.

"Oh god, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Rogue fell to her knees beside him but Gambit was out cold.

Logan came up behind her and picked up the slip of paper that she had dropped.

"What's the name of Gambit's cat?" he read aloud. He and Remy had agreed to be as nonchalant about Rogue's mutation as possible, so while he was worried about Remy, he hid his concern well.

"What!" Rogue turned to face him. "He needs help, we have to get him to the medical bay!"

Though Logan hated to see Rogue in pain, he had to admit that the Cajun had a point, how could she ever learn to control a power that she was afraid of using? So he remained calm, acted as though Gambit being unconscious was no big deal and repeated the question.

"I don't know!" Rogue snapped.

Gambit groaned and they both turned to him.

"You pack quite a punch, _chère_," he said, sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck.

Rogue looked on the verge of tears.

"Hey, it's all right, I'm fine!"

Her tears fell and he pulled her into a hug.

"Ssh," he cooed softly. "I know this is hard, Rogue, but you didn't hurt me. I've had plenty of blows from Logan that hurt much worse."

Rogue sat back and wiped her eyes, her hands were shaking but she seemed to be getting control of herself.

"Did you find out what the question asked?" Remy wanted to know.

Rogue bit her lip and shook her head, 'no'.

"It's okay, it's only your first try. We'll try again."

He grabbed her had before she had a chance to stop him and after holding it for a few moments, passed out again.

Rogue couldn't believe it. There were so many warring emotions in her head that she didn't know how she felt. She was awed that he had touched her again, even though she'd already drained him, she was frightened that he wouldn't like her any more or would pull away from her from now on, she was also worried that he was upset with her for not getting the information that he'd asked for, yet she was also strangely hopeful that maybe his theory was right, and at the same time incredibly guilty for having hurt him.

She sat silently at his side until he woke up again.

"You get it that time, _chère_?" he finally asked, wiping a hand over his face.

"N- no."

Remy sat up.

"Maybe I should take this next one," Logan suggested since Remy had taken marginally longer to wake up that time.

"No, when she's got the answer, she can move on." Remy sat up and looked at her. "Remember what it is that you're looking for, _chère_, and focus only on getting that information, got it?"

Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded.

This time Remy didn't grab her hand but held his out for her. She kept looking up into his eyes, waiting for him to change his mind but he just kept smiling reassuringly at her.

"Go on," he encouraged when her hand hovered over his.

Rogue touched only her finger tip to his hand and closed her eyes, to better seek out the information that she needed.

"Tiddles!" she finally cried, withdrawing her hand.

"Say what?" Logan asked from behind her.

"Remy's cat, it was Mrs Tiddles, though actually it was a stray adopted by his Tante Mattie, not really his cat."

Remy was unfortunately unconscious again but when he came around, Logan was sure that it was faster than before, though the touch had been for the same amount of time. It was far too soon to draw conclusions, but Logan hoped it was a sign that she had drained more knowledge than life force.

"Did you get it?" Remy said when he woke up.

"The question was the name of your cat, and it was your aunts cat, Mrs Tiddles."

Remy smiled in relief, unsure how many more times he could be drained in quick succession before he really started to feel bad.

"Okay, time for claws to get a go. I don't want to be the one having all the fun." Remy said, jumping back to his feet. He really felt that he'd like a few more minutes to recover but he put on a brave face for Rogue. If he gave any indication that she'd really hurt him, he worried that she would call a halt to this.

Rogue picked a question from Wolverines' envelope and read it.

"You sure about this?" she asked, him.

"Sure thing, darlin'." He held his had out towards her and after a brief hesitation, she grabbed it.

By the end of the hour Rogue no longer hesitated to take hold of their hands, and she succeeded first time at extracting the information she needed.

Though he couldn't be sure, Remy also felt that she was taking less time to find the information and extracting less life force. He would check the danger room computer when he was done, but he was hopeful. He was also feeling very light-headed and rather nauseous, but he did his best to hide it.

Both he and Logan praised her when they were done and she actually left the danger room with a smile on her face. Remy watched her and Logan happily stroll along the corridor, then made his way to the control room and collapsed in the chair.

Remy hadn't thought that she could be that draining, especially to someone like him who had a healing factor, but she really did pack one hell of a punch.

He checked the computer data and was pleased to see that his observations had been correct; the time she held on for and the time he and Logan were unconscious were both reduced by 15% by the end of the session. That could be because she'd held on for less time, but he hoped it was a sign that she was learning to direct her powers.

He set the data to print and with that done, he grew sleepy. The pages were still printing though, so he decided just to close his eyes for a moment. Nothing wrong with a quick nap, was there? Okay, so he was a grown man, but there was still nothing wrong with an afternoon nap, lots of people in Europe took siestas. Of course, it was still only at 11.30 in the morning, but he felt he could overlook that just this one time.

He was just drifting off to sleep with big smile on his face, when it suddenly vanished as he remembered that not only was he was in love with this girl, but that she had just stolen some of his memories! What if she found out? Unfortunately he was too far under for the shock to wake him up and he drifted into a sound sleep. By the time he woke up, he'd forgotten all about the possibility that Rogue could have found out that he was in love with her, for a while at least.

* * *

Rogue and Logan shared lunch, then settled down to watch a movie matinee on TV. Not five minutes in and Logan was asleep.

Rogue smiled. She had thanked him over and over for his help but it didn't feel like enough. She was certain that her power draining had been lessening toward the end of the session but she didn't have concrete proof of that yet. She had expected Gambit to arrive with the printouts from the control room and suddenly she was hit by an awful thought. What if it had all been for nothing? What if the improvement in control she thought she had was just wishful thinking?

Since the control room was the last place she'd seen him, Rogue headed there, needing to know if the session had all been for nothing.

She relaxed a little as she saw Gambit sleeping, his head resting on the desk, and she smiled. Of course he would be exhausted too. She gently brushed a few strands of his long hair out of his eyes and watched him for a moment. Then she looked to the printer and took the sheets out. The data seemed to support the idea that she was getting control and she breathed a deep sigh of relief.

She grabbed a pen and wrote a quick note on the papers._ 'Thank you, Gam...,'_ she wrote, then paused over his name. _'Remy' _she heard herself think, and she frowned, wondering where that thought had come from.

Suddenly it hit her and left her feeling breathless. He had wished many times that she would call him Remy, and that she would let him use her first name.

All these years she had thought that Gambit, no, Remy was a ladies man and incapable of commitment. She'd never known him have a relationship that lasted longer than a month, tops, and she had long ago written him off as a lost cause. And she was right, he was unable to commit, because he was already madly in love with someone he couldn't have. Her!

She'd had a crush on him since she'd first seen him, and over the years that crush had developed into a friendship and level of caring that she had with few people. In fact she only loved Logan and Remy.

But she loved Remy a little differently to Logan. Logan was her brother and friend, while Remy was just a friend, a friend that she couldn't lose by admitting how very much she did care for him.

She had always called him Gambit because that was a nickname, that kept some distance between them and since she thought that she was just a silly child to him, she felt like she had needed that distance. Besides, the only person who called him Remy was Logan, who was arguably his best friend.

And the awful fact was that even knowing how he felt, he still viewed her as a child. She rarely thought of the age gap because Remy only looked to be in his mid 20s, and he certainly didn't act like the other adults around here, who were generally speaking not impulsive or mischievous.

Plus, for reasons she couldn't really understand, he had a tremendous amount of guilt and felt himself unworthy of her. She wondered what memories she hadn't absorbed that had caused him feel such guilt.

He couldn't be deserving of it, she knew, because he was a hero. An honest to god Hero, with a capital H.

Was it something like her guilt? Had he hurt someone when his powers first manifested? She couldn't say for sure, obviously, but she knew it must be something like that because he simply wasn't capable of doing anything really wrong.

She used white-out on his name then wrote over it with _'Remy_'. It felt good to call him that.

She didn't really know how to react to Remy's feelings for her, so she decided that she wouldn't, they would just go on as before. Besides, she just wasn't interested in a relationship until she learned to control her powers, because it would just be like Bobby all over again. She was sick and tired of being teased with something that she couldn't have so until a real relationship was possible, she was going to remain single.

That was no secret that Rogue had vowed to remain single, thanks to a rather ill thought out chat with Kitty one day. Many people had given her nicknames after that but Gambit's name for her was her favourite. Whenever she chastised him for not treating his dates right or not trying to have a real relationship, he would call her Sister Mary-Rogue.

He had once admitted that he had seduced a nun and since he had started calling her that, she liked to picture herself as that nun, and imagine Gambit charming his way into her bed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Shout-outs! **Nicholee33 and Willowed Moon - Thank you for your comments on the last chapter, I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story.

Thanks must also go to Ccgnme, skylight, edf-k, ishandahalf and Gidgeygirl for their comments on previous chapters.

You guys rawk, thank you so much.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

After four weeks of bi-weekly sessions, Rogue was able to steal Remy and Logan's memories and leave them feeling only slightly dizzy. She was very pleased by her progress, so she was slightly surprised to enter the danger room on Saturday afternoon and find Remy there but no Logan, and Jimmy, AKA Leech, in his place.

What was the use in turning her powers off if she was trying to control them?

Sensing her confusion, Remy tried to explain.

"When most mutants use their powers, they can feel it. I thought that maybe you were so used to your powers that they had become a kind of white noise. I'm hoping that Jimmy here can help remind you what it was like to not have powers, so you can feel the difference."

That wasn't actually a bad idea but as she stepped further into the room she noticed that Remy looked different.

"You have green eyes!" she gasped, suddenly realising that she'd never seen him with normal eyes before.

"Yeah," he blushed and looked a little awkward. "You like?"

He was so used to people being shocked by his black eyes that he just accepted it. He loved his eyes and hated their reaction but for some reason, he didn't mind if Rogue preferred his human eyes.

"They're horrible!" she said without thinking, immediately wishing she could take such hurtful words back. To her immense relief, he burst out laughing.

"Finally, someone who likes the devil eyes!" he cried. "Just a shame it's gotta be Sister Mary Rogue."

For once, she didn't like that nickname.

Knowing how he felt about her, perhaps it was perverse of her to get into his personal space, but she was a little angry at his words. She strode up to him, opened his jacket, pulled his shades out from the inside pocket and slipped them onto his nose.

"There, much better."

Remy was giving her an odd look and she wondered if perhaps she had crossed a line.

"What?"

"You feel any different, _chère_?" Remy asked.

Only then did Rogue realise that she too was standing next to Jimmy and no longer had her powers. She stopped and thought for a minute and realised that she did feel different.

Her skin usually felt tight but now it was weird, like some unknown pressure under her skin had been relieved.

She couldn't help herself, she pulled off her gloves and raised one hand to Remy's cheek, stroking her thumb over his stubble. She was slowly learning to control her powers but she still felt a long way from being able to do something like this.

Suddenly she realised that it was a rather intimate gesture considering that even though she had graduated, Remy was supposed to be her teacher, at least at the moment.

She reached her other hand out for Jimmy, who slipped his smaller one into hers. His hands felt so soft, especially the back of his hand.

"This is amazing," she said, sounding rather awed

"This is what you're working for," Remy said, his voice like warm honey. "Remember that."

Rogue finally dropped her hands back to her side, remembering that she was here to work, not exploit Jimmy's power.

"So how do we do this?" she asked.

"You sit on the floor with your back to us," Remy said. "Close your eyes, relax, and I'm going to have Jimmy walk towards you and away from you. I want you to try and focus on how your powers feel, and to try and feel exactly when they turn on and off."

"Okay," Rogue nodded and sat on the floor with her legs crossed. "Ready when you are."

"Good, tell me when you feel your powers switch back on."

Because he could move silently and Jimmy couldn't, Remy picked the boy up in a fireman's carry and slowly moved away from. After about three paces Rogue raised her hand.

"They're baa-ck!" she said dramatically, in her best horror-movie voice.

Gambit chuckled and took another step away before he turned around.

"Okay, we're coming back, tell me when you feel them go off."

Sometimes he quickly made his way to or from her, sometimes he moved so slowly that her powers came back in tiny increments.

Rogue was beginning to get tired of the exercise but it was interesting to feel her power come and go.

"Okay, we're heading back," Remy said again and Rogue sighed and prepared for the feeling of her powers switching off again. He was moving slowly this time and it seemed to take an eternity before she raised her hand.

"Off."

"Okay, we're moving away again," Gambit said.

Again it took an eternity for him to move away and Rogue let out a few heavy sighs of boredom, before she finally raised her hand.

"On. Can we stop this now?" She opened her eyes and turned to face Remy and Jimmy.

"_Non_!" He was very firm and Rogue rolled her eyes in response. "All right, just a few more, okay, then we'll stop?"

"Okay," she gave another long suffering sign and turned away, closing her eyes.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Just get it over with."

He moved a little quicker that time and her powers went off and back on a little faster. He seemed to be faster still the next time and the time after that.

The next time her powers went off, she was surprised when Gambit took her ungloved hand, but only because she hadn't heard him approach. He was kneeling in front of her but she couldn't see Jimmy. He must be close though.

"Hey," she smiled, enjoying the contact, even if it was just a handshake.

Remy slowly took his sunglasses off and she saw that his eyes were once again red on black. It took her a moment to wonder why Jimmy was affecting her but not Remy, when Jimmy walked into her view, and he was almost ten feet away, far too far away to be effecting her power. But Remy was holding her hand and not being drained.

She had turned her own power off!

With that realisation, her powers came back on in a flood and Remy let go, falling backwards and shaking his head a little to clear it.

Rogue looked down at her hand in wonder.

Now that she knew how different it felt without her power, she hated the tight feeling in her skin but she now realised that it was within her to make it stop. She closed her eyes and tried to picture Remy and Jimmy walking away from her. The tightness suddenly left and she opened her eyes.

"I can do it," she grinned, "I can turn it off!"

"It's been you the last half dozen times, we didn't move at all. I knew you had it in you, _chère_." Remy smiled, only to be bowled off his knees a second later as Rogue launched herself at him.

"I can touch!" she screamed. "Thank you, thank you!"

She kissed his cheek then pulled away slightly and looked down at him. He looked the most content that Rogue could ever remember seeing him and she couldn't stop herself leaning in for a kiss.

"Rogue," his hands grabbed her upper arms and she could feel her powers snap back on. "You did good, today, let's go celebrate, _hein_?"

Rogue noticed that he didn't look content any more, he looked almost frightened, although he was covering it well. Still, she quickly moved and got to her feet, then turned her powers off once again.

"What do you say, Jimmy, you want to go get some ice cream with us?" Remy called over to the boy.

Rogue had forgotten that Jimmy was even there. She dusted her clothes off and went over to Jimmy. Not only did he deserve her thanks, she was too embarrassed to face Remy at the moment. She had pushed him too far, and she didn't believe for a moment that Jimmy was accompanying them to the ice cream parlour was anything other than Remy wanting a chaperone. He'd never invited anyone else to go with them before.

"Thanks Jimmy, you were a real big help today," Rogue told him.

Jimmy grinned. Most people thought that his power was pretty useless, so he was glad that he'd been able to use it to help someone.

"Okay, kids, meet me in the front hall in fifteen minutes and we'll go get some very unhealthy ice cream." Remy said.

Although Rogue bristled at being called a kid, she didn't turn to look at him. Back in her room, she changed out of her workout clothes and chose a nice but simple outfit. Though she wouldn't normally do so for such an outing, she applied a little bit of powder to to her face, some mascara and a dark pink tinted lip gloss. She though she looked pretty good, especially with only 15 minutes notice.

She saw Remy's eyes widen as she rushed into the hall, then he quickly turned away and strode towards the garage.

"You're late," he called over his shoulder.

"What's eating him?"Jimmy asked softly, having also observed his change in mood.

"Dunno," Rogue shrugged. "Maybe it's his time of the month."

Jimmy giggled and Remy turned to them as he unlocked the car and glared. They both tried to stifle their smiles but as soon as Remy got into the car, they grinned at each other.

Rogue got in the front seat and Jimmy climbed into the back. It seemed that Remy had made an effort to calm down and was doing his best to keep the conversation going on the quick drive into town. The got parked outside the parlour and took one of the booths.

"This place is so cool!" Jimmy enthused. "It's like something out of an old 50s movie!"

It was true, the place had been styled to look old fashioned, from the Formica counter tops, to the old movie poster prints on the walls, and even the waitresses uniforms were a blast from the past.

Conversation flowed freely and even though Rogue was upset that Jimmy had been invited along to something that had previously been shared with Remy or Logan, she didn't let it effect her. Besides, she had decided that she would corner Remy back at the mansion and ask what the hell was going on. She knew, of course, she had absorbed him too many times not to know, but she wasn't going to let him get away with this guilt crap.

She knew that he loved her and she believed that he was good enough to deserve her. And maybe he was older, but that didn't bother her in the slightest.

Unfortunately, Remy disappeared almost as soon as they got back and after trying to run into him in various rooms, she finally asked if anyone had seen him, to which Logan told her that he had gone into town.

Rogue felt disheartened by that but she took it well. So he was off sleeping with another woman... He was a free agent, right? He could do what he wanted, right? So why did she hate the thought so much?

Her mood plummeted further when her powers switched themselves on again, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shut them off.

"Don't worry, darlin'," Logan tried to reassure her. "You're probably just tired, that's all. You can't expect miracles."

She hadn't been expecting miracles but nevertheless, she still felt depressed. She made her way to bed at nine, preferring the company of her romance novels to the rowdy kids and Saturday night TV.

* * *

Remy turned over in his bed and groaned as the events of last night came rushing back.

It was ridiculous really because he hadn't done anything wrong, yet he still felt like dirt.

Remy wouldn't call himself a womaniser, he much preferred the term 'ladies man' because he wasn't just interested in sex. Sure, women looked wonderful and felt even better, but Remy was just as interested in their personalities and companionship as he was sex.

Though he slept with a lot of women, he didn't feel that he used them. He was always upfront about his intentions, i.e. that he usually had dishonourable intentions and wasn't looking for a long term commitment, or any commitment actually, then he left the decision up to them. And they always had fun, he made sure of it. It was a fair trade in his eyes and most of the women he had slept with were happy to see him again, some even wanting a rematch. As long as they weren't getting clingy, Remy had no problems with that either.

He hadn't been so picky in recent years though and last night, he didn't even much like the lady he had followed home. So much so that he hadn't given her an orgasm and hadn't even stayed the night, but rather made an excuse about an early start and left soon after the deed was done, which really wasn't like him.

He knew why he had gone out last night, because he needed someone, anyone, to take his mind off Rogue, plus he needed the release. He had no idea if Rogue was aware of the effect she had on him, he hoped not but in the past few weeks she had seemed to grow up a lot, wearing more makeup and putting a lot more effort into her wardrobe. He didn't think it was for his benefit but man, it made it hard for him to keep his thoughts pure around her.

Then after their training session yesterday, she had almost kissed him. It had started out as a playful hug, which is why he had allowed her to bowl him to the ground, but then the tone of the hug had changed as she pulled away. He would have bet good money that she was about to kiss him, and it had taken almost every ounce of willpower that he possessed to stop her.

That didn't stop the tightening he felt below the belt though, nor had it done anything to lessen his attraction to her, if anything it had made matters worse.

And now he felt like he was cheating on Rogue!

To be honest, that feeling had been creeping up on him for a while, but last night he not only felt like he had cheated, he knew that had used that woman, and that wasn't who Remy wanted to be.

He pulled his quilt up over his head in the hopes of sleep claiming him once again. Oblivion was much preferable to facing himself in the mirror right now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Hey, kid, what's eating you?" Logan said the next morning as he sat down opposite Rogue at the kitchen table.

"I'm fine," she said with a smile.

"Sure, that why you're playing with your cereal rather than eating it."

As though to prove him wrong, Rogue ate a spoonful, then went back to pushing the flakes around the bowl.

"Is it your power?" he asked.

"No," she sighed. "I was able to turn it off when I woke up. It's been off for about an hour now so you were right, I was probably just tired."

Logan nodded as though he understood.

"It's a big change though. You've lived with this curse for over three years now, it's going to take you some time to adjust."

"It's not that."

"Then what?" He waited as she continued to push her breakfast around her bowl. He knew she'd talk if she wanted to, he wasn't going to force her.

"There's this boy," she finally admitted.

"Bobby?" he asked.

"No!" Rogue looked so shocked that he believed her. "I'm glad he and Kitty got together, he deserves someone nice."

"I just thought that now you can touch-"

"I'm over Bobby. Honestly."

"Okay, so what's the problem with this other boy? Is he taken too?"

"Not really."

"Not really?" he repeated.

"I think that he likes me- no, I know that he likes me, but he just doesn't seem interested."

"Rogue, you've only been able to turn your power off for less than a day, and you don't have anything near complete control yet. Maybe he needs some time get used to the idea himself."

"Maybe," she sighed.

Logan wasn't fooled by her evasions, he had been able to smell the attraction between Rogue and Remy since the day those two met. To be honest, he was surprised it had taken them this long to figure things out, and he had formed a grudging respect for Remy. When he first came to the school, Logan had been pretty sure that it wouldn't be long before he was skewering the Cajun for being too forward with Rogue, and that's why he had formed a friendship with the man, to keep him close but to his immense surprise, Remy had always been respectful and had never let on to anyone about his feelings for Rogue.

His respect had gone up even higher when it was Remy who had talked Rogue out of taking the cure. That above all else, was concrete proof that the Cajun was putting Rogue's well being before his own carnal urges.

Rogue didn't need much taking care of, she was a strong and resourceful young woman and Remy had always seemed to respect that. He had never tried to baby her but rather, always did what he thought best for her, even if that wasn't always the 'nice' thing to do.

Though Logan didn't much care for the age difference between them, he had to admit that Rogue could do a lot worse than Remy. Now they just had to figure things out for themselves.

Still, maybe he could give them a helping hand.

* * *

Kitty was studying at one of the tables at the back of the rec room while the students were in lessons, when Logan came in. One of her fashion magazines was lying on the table with her stuff and Logan picked it up and began idly flicking through the pages. Kitty gave him a weird glance but soon turned back to her studies.

"Hey, this hair style would look good on Rogue, dontcha think?" he asked, turning the magazine around so she could see.

Stunned to hear fashion advice coming from Logan, she stopped writing and looked at the picture.

"It really would," she agreed.

"Actually, maybe all of you should consider sharpening your images up, you are officially employed as administrators of this school now. You should make a bit of an effort, at least on week days. Bobby's ripped jeans and your T-shirts wouldn't send the right impression if we were to have a spot inspection or something."

He could see Kitty's eyes light up at the thought of a shopping trip.

"Just a thought," Logan said, tossing the open magazine back on the table before he walked away.

* * *

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Rogue grumbled as she sat in her hairdressing chair the following weekend, waiting for the stylist to come and cut her beautiful locks.

"Come on, you would look so hot with a bob," Kitty said from her seat beside Rogue. Her head was currently covered with foils since she was getting highlights.

Rogue sighed theatrically.

"Besides, Kitty continued. "You're getting your powers under control now, you'll need some new clothes. Imagine, a strappy t-shirt or a short sleeved blouse, wouldn't that be great?"

"Can't control them yet," Rogue said darkly.

Her powers were currently switched off but as she didn't have anywhere near full control, she had been forced to ask the stylist to wear latex gloves and try not to touch her skin. She explained it away as having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which Kitty had backed her up on, but it was humiliating to have to ask. Still, as she was going to get the shoulder length bob that Kitty suggested, which Rogue did think would look good, there was a risk that the stylist would touch her skin, especially at the back of her neck, which she couldn't properly cover.

Thirty minutes later, she was smiling at herself in the mirror as she turned her hair from side to side, making it bounce around her face.

"I love it!" she told the stylist.

Kitty was going to be a while since she had only just had the foils out and was now waiting for her trim, so Rogue paid and headed to the food court to get them a snack. Kitty would meet her there when she was finished.

On her way she spotted a lingerie shop and looked longingly at the mannequins in the window. She couldn't remember the last time she'd bought pretty underwear, let alone sexy underwear. What was the point when no one else ever got to see it? Boring, functional underwear was cheaper, so why waste money on getting something frivolous, she had reasoned.

Call it madness, but she suddenly wanted something sexy for a change. Fifteen minutes later she came out with three new sets of matching bras and panties. Covering her bases, she had one set in black satin, one in emerald green satin and one set was a lacy burgundy. She somehow doubted that she'd have a reason to wear them any time soon, but it was nice just to own them. And she was _so _not telling Kitty about that little purchase. She stuffed the bag into the bottom of her purse, where it would be safely hidden from Kitty's prying eyes.

Chores at Xaviers were done mostly by the students or staff, first for the privacy of the school, so that it's true nature wasn't discovered and secondly, so that those who were runaways could earn some pocket money. They also offered to pay to for its students to attend college when they graduated, but the students had to have jobs or student loans to earn their own keep while away at college. Since Bobby, Kitty, Peter and Rogue were taking home classes, their courses were much cheaper than usual and of course, they were working as X-men, so the school paid them a proper (if low) wage, even though the amount of work they actually did for the school was minimal. They oversaw some mutant classes and had a rota to prepare the food, but that was about all.

Sometimes Rogue wondered just how loaded the professor had been to be so generous with money, but Storm had told her that his family made their money in oil, so provided he hadn't squandered it, the professor could well have been a billionaire, maybe even many times over. Plus, his psychic abilities could have helped him to make very wise investments, but somehow Rogue couldn't see him using his ability for that.

She still missed him.

The school was functioning properly again now, if a little short staffed at times, but sometimes she came across a student or colleague looking morose, or staring at the professors portrait in the library.

Some of the new students had no clue who he was, obviously, and Rogue sometimes wondered how long it would be until Xavier was just the name of a school, and no longer the name of a brave man with a vision for peace.

They all intended to see that his dream lived on of course, but it just wasn't the same without him here to advise them.

Kitty joined Rogue before her thoughts could become any more depressing and after a snack, cajoled her into visiting three different shops and buying far more clothes than Rogue usually bought in a year.

Still, she did have some very nice outfits in her bags, and she knew just who she wanted to see her wearing them.

When they got back, Kitty dragged Rogue straight to the rec room to show off their new hair styles. Rogue only wanted to know what one person thought of it though, and her eyes sought our Remy, just in time to see him disappearing through the other door.

She felt hurt. She hadn't cut her hair for him, nor did his approval change how much she liked her new style, but she had been looking forward to seeing his reaction.

By Wednesday of that week, she had reached the conclusion that he was avoiding her, and when only Logan showed up to her bi-weekly power training session, she became sure of it.

* * *

All through the following week, Rogue kept her clothes professional or smart casual but on the Friday night she, Kitty and Storm had plans to go into the local town and party. Nothing too outlandish, of course, and Rogue and Kitty were still too young to drink, but Rogue just wanted to have some fun and maybe go dancing.

Rogue didn't know why she had taken Gambit's womanising so hard recently, he had done that ever since she had known him after all, and he usually went out at least two nights a week. Nevertheless, his behaviour was beginning to upset her and she wanted him to know that if he didn't want her, plenty of other people would happily take his place. At least she hoped that they would.

Her powers still weren't fully under control, but she'd left them switched on all day so that she wasn't too tired when they went out, and she had chosen her outfit to show off her body without revealing too much skin. Maybe she couldn't have a proper boyfriend yet but one day in the not too distant future, she would be able to and she intended to take full advantage of that fact.

She wore a black miniskirt that came to her mid thigh, with flesh coloured opaque pantyhose under that, a tightly fitting, strappy black shirt and over that, a sheer emerald blouse.

She strode into the kitchen to wait for the others and took some satisfaction as she noticed Remy's jaw drop.

"Hey, _chère_, where you goin', lookin' all dressed up?"

"A club in town. Kitty says it's great fun."

She noticed his stunned look turn into a frown.

_'Good,'_ she thought. _'Maybe he'll know how I feel when he's off picking someone up at a bar.'_

"You sure that's outfit's wise?" he said, his tone hard to decipher. "Lots of bodies pressed together in a club, accidents might happen."

She rounded on him, suddenly angry.

"Yes, I do think this outfit is wise, Gambit! The only skin I'm revealing is on my hands and I haven't turned my power off all day so that I don't get tired while I'm out. Quit playing my father, I already have one too many of those in Logan."

As though he had heard his name, Logan strolled in a moment later and whistled softly.

"Lookin' good, kid." he said, checking her outfit out. "Maybe I'm gonna have to stop calling you kid from now on."

"Thank you," Rogue beamed at him. "At least someone around here knows how to give a girl a compliment."

Kitty joined her, then Storm, and although both their outfits were even more revealing than Rogue's, Gambit didn't question them. It made her even more determined to have a good evening.

As their cab arrived, they left and Logan got two beers out of his stash, opening one for himself and handing the other to Remy as he sat opposite him at the table.

"Green doesn't look good on you, gumbo," he said.

Remy looked shocked. "You- you think I'm jealous?"

"I know you are," Logan answered. "I also know that you're both miserable right now. I don't know when things changed between you two, I don't know why you're fighting it and I don't much care what you get up to when I'm not around, but stop making Rogue miserable. I love that girl like she was my own and I don't like it when people make her unhappy."

"You aren't seriously telling me that you think I can make her happy, are you?" Remy asked.

"I don't know, Gumbo, but I do know that you either have to do this, or let her down gently."

"She'll hate me." Remy hung his head.

"Not as much as you hate yourself right now."

Remy looked up sharply.

"Come on," Logan continued. "You've been out four times over the last two weeks, and not once have you come back smelling like some other broad. Rogue doesn't have my sense of smell, of course, so she thinks you're still catting around and she doesn't like it. So why the change in behaviour? Either the women have finally got wise to you, which is unlikely; you've lost your famed charm; you've suddenly decided to bat for the other team, or you realise that Rogue's feelings for you have changed, you can see that it hurts her and you're feeling guilty."

"If I am batting for the other team, was that an offer?" Remy teased.

"Don't try and change the subject, Cajun. Rogue's not a kid any longer, she's one of the strongest people I know and she doesn't need to be coddled."

"Maybe she is grown up," Remy admitted, realising that keeping up the pretence was useless. "But that doesn't mean that I'm any good for her."

"Much as it pains me to say it, there's a lot worse than you out there, gumbo."

"That is praise indeed, coming from you."

"Stop kidding around!" Logan growled, and for once Remy decided to keep his mouth shut.

Logan swigged his beer and they sat in silence for a few moments.

"I'm taking off," Logan broke the silence.

"Now? But the school-"

"I'm not a teacher, bub, and I already spoke to Storm."

"To be honest, after Jean, I'm amazed you hung around this long."

"That's what Storm said," Logan smiled slightly wistfully.

"Where are you going?" Remy asked.

"I don't know, just... somewhere."

Remy nodded. "She's gonna miss you."

"That's why I'm counting on you to look after her." Logan gave him a pointed look.

Remy sighed. "You have my word, _mon ami_."

"Good."

"You gonna tell her?" Remy asked.

"Depends if she's up. I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

Remy nodded. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

Logan got up and left the room, taking the beer with him.

* * *

The girls got back at around 1AM and while Kitty and storm headed straight off to bed, Rogue headed to the kitchen for some water. She had danced so much tonight that she felt as though she'd been through a danger room session.

The main kitchen lights were off with just the under counter ones left to illuminate the room, so Rogue didn't immediately notice Remy, still sitting in the same chair as when she'd left and playing Solitaire.

"Have a nice night?" he asked, making her jump.

"Gambit, don't do that!"

"Sorry, _petite_."

His expression was unreadable but she didn't think he was very happy. He hadn't called her _petite _in ages and she didn't like that he was starting to again. Mind you, she always called him Gambit again, maybe he didn't like that.

"I had a great night," she grinned, partly to get on his nerves and partly because she really had enjoyed herself. "And no accidents, if that's what you mean."

It wasn't but he didn't say so.

"So, were you waiting up for us?" she asked, as though it was the saddest thing in the world.

"_Non_, I got stuck with night duty," he lied. Actually he had switched with Pete because he wanted a valid excuse to stay up.

"Whatever." Rogue downed her glass of water and left the kitchen. If Gambit wanted to mope, he'd have to do so alone.

Gambit sighed as the door closed behind her. The only thing he hated more than the idea of him being with her, was the idea of some pimpled teenage boy being with her. Teenage boys were nothing but a randy little bunch of pricks with no self control. And yes, he did speak from experience.

Pete might be the exception, but the idea of watching even Rogue and Pete be a couple 24/7 was not one that he relished.

* * *

Rogue was fresh from the shower the next day when she heard someone tap on the door.

"Come in!" she called, pulling her robe on before leaving the bathroom.

"Logan?" he hardly ever came to her room, especially not on a Saturday morning. He didn't exactly look happy either. "What's wrong?"

"I gotta take off for a while, kid, clear my head."

She had been expecting that for a while now, but it had been almost two months since Jean died, so she had been hoping that he was planning on staying permanently. Still, he had killed the love of his life, you didn't just get over that kind of thing no matter how good you were at hiding it.

"You comin' back?"

"Yeah." He took his dog tags off, the ones that Rogue had ordered for him that said 'Wolverine' and 'X-Men'. She knew he valued them, though probably not as much as his old ones since they were a link to the past that he couldn't remember. "I'll be back for these," he said, dropping them into her palm.

"Okay." She hugged him tightly, then kissed his cheek (her powers were still switched off). "Don't take too long."

He smiled, then turned and left.

Rogue sat down on the side of her bed, wondering how she had gone from feeling like a million bucks last night, to now feeling like a kicked puppy.

Suddenly her room felt too small, so she climbed out onto her balcony and up to the roof. It was raining, probably thanks to Storm. You'd have to be blind not to see the friendship that had developed between Logan and Ororo following Jean's death, well, both her deaths actually, and she was probably going to miss her friend.

Rogue only had on her robe but she didn't care. She liked it up here and it was quiet, so she sat on the edge and looked out over the school grounds.

She didn't blame Logan for his wandering, that was just who he was and how he dealt with things, she just wished that she didn't miss him so much. He was the closest thing that she had to family right now.

Well, there was Gambit too, but she really didn't know what the hell he was to her right now.

The sad truth was that every time Logan left, she couldn't help but think of her own family and how they had abandoned her in her time of need.

She had stayed for a week after what happened to David, mainly because she was too numb to act. David's family was threatening to sue her family, her father was up in arms, ranting and yelling, her mother was constantly crying and her friends shunned her, calling her all kinds of cruel names.

After a week she couldn't stand it any more so she left, taking one bag and her meagre savings with her. Sometimes she could hardly believe that she'd hitchhiked almost three thousand miles, but she had.

And now the only man who really cared about her was leaving too. She began to cry, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

She heard footsteps behind her but she couldn't find the energy to move.

"Thought I might find you up here." Remy sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms.

She couldn't even remember why she was mad at him right now and she took the comfort that he offered.

When she finally pulled away, she wiped her eyes, glad for once that she wasn't wearing any makeup. It didn't seem to matter how much she wiped though, the rain kept falling even after her tears had stopped.

"Did he tell you he was going?" Rogue asked.

"Last night," Remy admitted.

"I suppose it was inevitable," she said with a sigh.

"He'll be back, _chère_, you know he can't stay away for too long."

That didn't seem to cheer her much.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking about how we met, or rather the circumstances leading up to our meeting. David, running away, hitchhiking."

"You want to go back and see your folks?" he asked.

Rogue looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Just a suggestion, _chère_. Whether they accept you or not, at least then you'll know where you stand, _non_?"

He had a point but she wasn't ready, not yet, not until she had her power under control.

"Maybe one day," she said.

Remy still had an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him, kissing her damp hair.

"You won't leave me, will you, Remy?"

"Never, Rogue. Never."

She looked into his eyes for the first time then and seemed to be weighing something up. He really had never let her down, he had always been her friend, even when she's was being suborn or petty or stupid. He had suffered his fair share of losses too, and he'd known many of them a lot longer than Logan had, but he had never run away.

"Anna." she said softly, casting her gaze down to her lap.

"Sorry?"

"My name is Anna."

"I thought your name was Marie?"

"That's my middle name," she admitted, finally looking up into his eyes and giving him a shy smile. "I haven't told anyone else that, not since I left home."

Remy felt an insane swell of pride at her words, that she would trust him with such a secret meant a lot.

"Anna," he repeated. The name sounded like a soft caress coming from his lips.

"I like the way you say it," she admitted.

"And I like it when you call me Remy."

She smiled. "Don't tell anyone, will you?"

"Your secret is safe with me, _ma chère_."

"Thank you. And I'm sorry if I've made things awkward between us. I didn't mean to." All she knew was that she couldn't afford to lose him too, and if that meant staying his friend, then so be it.

"Me too." He hugged her again. "How about we go get some ice cream," he suggested as they broke apart. "Something really sickly sweet and loaded with a weeks worth of calories?"

She smiled. "Okay, just give me a few minutes to dry my hair and get dressed."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Despite Logan's absence, life at the mansion continued as normal. Rogue began to go out with the girls more often, and Remy had at least two nights out per week, though Rogue noticed that he never seemed to stay overnight with his lady friends any more. She didn't think much about it and knowing Remy, she certainly didn't think that he was just keeping up appearances and actually drinking alone, or sometimes going into the city to gamble.

Their relationship jogged along much as it used to, aside from the occasional longing glance when they thought that they were unobserved.

Psylocke, also known as Betsy Braddock, joined the school as the resident psychic. She wasn't a very skilled psychic but it was better than nothing. She was also able to teach English and History, which was very welcome.

Rogue, Pete, Bobby and Kitty each also took on more teaching duties, since they were still short staffed. They only taught academic subjects to the youngest kids though, because they simply weren't qualified to teach the older ones. They were however, much more useful in the rooms below the school, helping all the children with with danger room sessions, or to learn how use and control their powers.

Storm was thankful for the help, even while she felt guilty for imposing on them and their own studies.

Life was fairly quiet at the moment. Since Magneto had been stopped, there was little in the way of mutant attack on humans, and the mutant haters got to see justice served as Magneto and his army was tried and sentenced.

When news broke that the cure wasn't permanent, many mutants appeared on television telling stores of never having being accepted, never begin understood and just wanting to be normal. They painted a very sympathetic picture, and it was hard for the hate groups to summon up enough ill will to grow any further.

Numerous lawsuits were filed against the pharmaceutical company, both from mutants for whom the cure had failed and surprisingly, even mutant hate groups. There was also talk of criminal charges being brought (though no one was really sure who at Worthington Pharmaceuticals deserved to be charged) and even an investigation into the FDA, who had approved the cure.

All the while that the humans were fighting amongst themselves, the mutants were fairly safe. Everyone knew that this calm couldn't last forever, but they were grateful for an opportunity to catch their breath.

Christmas came and went, and once again all the staff were saddened by how many students stayed over Christmas, either because they couldn't or didn't want to go back to their families.

Although she usually blocked out all thoughts of them, Rogue couldn't stop thinking about her family this year, wondering what they were doing, especially on Christmas day.

She knew that the X-Men and the school were her family now, she just wished that she didn't still think about her own family so much.

Her powers were almost totally under control now, aside from surprises that caused them to switch back on, almost as an instinct. Remy was working on that, and some of his methods were nicer than others.

First he's had her shake hands with everyone in the school, saying that she needed to get used to touching other people and they needed to get used to touching her. What he didn't tell her was that Bobby, Kitty and Storm were wearing a hand buzzer, which gave her a small shock as she touched them. Her power snapped back on as she shook Storms hand, though thankfully she was already pulling away because of the shock, so no harm was done. It was the same when she shook hands with Bobby a little further down the line but by the time she got to Kitty, she was prepared and while she didn't like the shock, her power didn't switch on.

After that it was a free for all. People burst balloons in her vicinity, jumped out of doorways at her, hid fake spiders in her cereal, and generally made her life a living hell for a while. Thankfully, when Storm finally ordered the pranks to stop as Rogue didn't need them any longer, they stopped. Well, Bobby did put a toy tarantula in her bed, but after getting a week of extra danger room sessions, he didn't try anything else.

Now the only time that she couldn't control her powers was in bed, and while they were always turned off at night, each morning when she woke up, her skin would feel tight and stretched, a sure sign that her power was active again.

_'X-men, please report to the war room,'_ Rogue heard Betsy's voice in her head and headed down to the basement. Shortly after she arrived, the room was full, save for Logan who was still off wandering.

"I have some odd news," Storm said, clearly upset about something.

"Odd?" asked Bobby.

"I don't know what else to call it," Storm confessed, then took a deep breath. "Betsy was experimenting with cerebro this morning and believes that she made contact with Professor Xavier."

The collective gasps around the table showed that Storm wasn't the only one who didn't know how to handle this news.

"On the astral plane?" Remy asked.

"Oh no, if it was him, he's on this plane and very much alive." Betsy said.

"What makes you say 'if'," Rogue asked. Betsy wasn't a powerful telepath and so she had only had limited success using cerebro before now. She wasn't offended by the question.

"I don't claim to know the professor like you all do, indeed I only met him once, but the man that I knew wasn't insane."

"The professor is insane?" Bobby asked.

"I don't know." Betsy rubbed her temples. "I'm still getting used to Cerebro, but the mind I encountered definitely believed that it was Charles Xavier and was definitely... off."

"As in crazy?" Kitty wanted conformation.

"I'm not a psychiatrist but yes; unstable at best, insane at worst."

"Is he a telepath?" Pete asked.

"Oh yes. He tried..."

"Tried what?" Rogue urged.

"Tried to kill her," Storm finished for Betsy.

Another round of gasps circled the table.

"He tried to follow the mental link I'd made back to me but when I cut the link with cerebro, he was cut off too."

"And you're sure he wanted to kill you?" Remy checked.

"Absolutely."

No one knew what to say to that.

"We know his location," Storm said after a few moments. "He's on Muir Island."

"We have to go get him!" Kitty said, standing.

"Not so fast," Storm said firmly. "Whether or not this is the professor, he's clearly dangerous. We need to think this one through."

"I'll go," Gambit volunteered. "Psychics can't get into my head unless I want them to."

"That's what I was thinking," Storm agreed. "Plus we'll need Betsy. She's not as strong as the professor but she's been working on her mental shields, and she's the only one who stands a chance of being able to help him. Because of that disparity in power, I'm not certain that we will be able to help him while he's conscious, which means Rogue needs to go too. You can incapacitate him without hurting him, plus you already have strong shields to prevent telepathic intrusion but if that isn't enough, you can borrow Remy's powers, which will offer you even greater protection."

Rogue nodded. She didn't care how dangerous it was, if there was a chance that the professor was alive, she was taking it.

"Why can't we all go?" Bobby argued, clearly feeling as Rogue did about their former mentor.

"First, because this is still a school and we have to keep some semblance of order around hers. Second... I'm sorry, but I just can't risk all your lives. Not all of you even have very good mental shields but since it was the professor who taught you to protect your minds, he can probably get around those shields anyway."

"Plus we need a team B, just in case plan A doesn't work," Rogue said softly, though everyone was thinking it.

* * *

Rogue piloted the Blackbird to Muir Island, but circled the island when she got close rather than landing. Betsy used the time to search the island for minds, finding only one conscious mind, the one which believed itself to be Charles Xavier.

"We're on our own," Betsy finally declared, "but he knows we're coming."

Rogue landed the jet and they cautiously headed out, when Rogue groaned and put her hands to her head. Gambit immediately touched her cheek, transferring some of his powers to her.

"It's okay, _chère_, you'll be fine now."

Rogue straightened up and the professor didn't try to enter her mind again, or if he did, she couldn't feel it.

"Thanks."

Betsy directed them into the facility, which was basically a giant hospital and research facility for mutants. Every now and again she paused to clutch her temples, which Rogue and Remy took as a sign that the professors attacks were working on her. Thankfully she seemed to be winning for the moment.

They had discussed what to do once they found the professor and had decided that Remy and Betsy would distract him, while Rogue crept up and absorbed him. Unfortunately, nothing went as planned.

The professor was ready for them, so ready in fact that he was leading them on a goose chase throughout the facility. After an hour or so of following and backtracking, Betsy finally warned them that they were getting close, that he was in the ward at the end of the corridor. They were in the hospital wing now, and Rogue couldn't figure out why he would wait for them here.

"You can come in," they heard Charles call, and all three stepped into the room. "Ah, how good of you to join me, I was getting rather lonely all by myself."

All around the ward were unconscious mutants. Some were in their beds while others had collapsed on the floor.

Gambit began the attack, launching his playing cards at Charles, but a little to one side so that the man would have to turn away from the explosions. Betsy tried to enter his mind and make him weak, while Rogue quietly stepped in the other direction.

"You'll have to do better than that, my old friend," Charles told Remy.

"I can do much better than that." Gambit let fly another series of cards, these ones aimed at the professors chair.

Both Rogue and Remy were too focused on their tasks to notice that Betsy was now standing stock still, clearly no longer a part of the fight.

Gambit let lose another barrage of cards, then another, while Rogue slowly made her way up behind Xavier. She reached out to touch him when suddenly a wrist grabbed hers.

"Betsy?" Rogue realised too late that the professor did have a reason for leading them around the facility; to give himself time to break through Betsy's mental shields.

Betsy threw her away from Charles and she landed on her back. She got straight back up and ran at Betsy again. She didn't want to hurt the other woman, but she did need to stop her. Unfortunately Betsy was also telekinetic and able to put her considerable brains behind her inconsiderable muscles, resulting in Rogue being battered around like a rag doll, as was Remy when he came to Rogue's aid.

Gambit grew more reckless with his cards but it didn't help, so finally he looked at the professors chair and charged it. He didn't want to kill the professor, but he had to protect Rogue, not to mention Betsy.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Xavier warned. He pointed over his shoulder to where Betsy now had an unconscious Rogue in her arms. "One word from me and Miss Braddock will snap her neck like a twig."

Gambit de-charged the wheelchair.

"A very wise decision," Xavier smiled. "Now to decide what to do with two mutants who can protect themselves from me."

"Let us go," Remy pleaded.

"So that you can come back with reinforcements? I don't think so."

Betsy threw Rogue to the floor and advanced on Remy, easily dodging his charged cards with her telekinesis. The fight was long, but Remy was eventually worn down, and he was knocked out when Betsy got close enough to strike him.

"Well, my dear," Xavier said to Betsy. "Perhaps you could stay and keep me company."

Betsy didn't answer. She couldn't because she didn't have any free will.

"Let's get out of here," Charles suggested. "I'm feeling rather famished."

Betsy followed along behind him, like a good little slave.

No one noticed where Rogue had fallen, prone on the floor, her face resting on the arm of a patient who was dressed only in her hospital gown, and who was now slowly being drained of life.

* * *

AN: Sorry to end on a cliffy. Been a buys day and something's better than nothing, right? As a thank you for all the lovely comments, I promise faithfully that I will get the next chapter up tomorrow, hopefully in the AM rather than the evening.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Rogue," Gambit crawled over to where Rogue was lying, pulling her off the blond woman who had been beneath her. "_Chère_?" He called again as he settled her in his lap and brushed her hair off her face. "Come on, baby, wake up."

As he shook her shoulder, she finally began to come around. Groggily, she sat up and looked around, trying to remember what happened.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"Don't know. Not even sure how long I was out."

"Since when did Betsy have telekinesis that powerful?" Rogue asked.

"I don't know, _chère_, but what I do know is that we can't get to either of them as long as Betsy is under his control."

Rogue reluctantly nodded. To be fair, she felt that Gambit would stand an excellent chance against Betsy in a fight, but neither of them wanted to hurt Betsy or the professor if it could be helped. They both lay there for a few moments, considering the situation.

"This is a hospital, right?" Rogue asked,

"_Oui_?" He didn't understand where she was going with this.

"That means they must have anaesthetics?"

"But how are we going to get close enough to inject them?"

"We don't, we gas them instead. You see if you can find the security room so we can track their movements, I'll see if I can find a tank of... something."

Remy didn't have a better plan so he agreed and they helped each other to their feet.

"Here," Remy said as they were about to part ways, and touched his fingers to her cheek. After a few moments he felt the drain of her powers as she turned them on. That should provide her with his protection against the professors mental attacks for a bit longer.

Rogue smiled, pleased by the gesture, then began to follow the signs to the operating rooms. She had hardly gone three paces when Remy's thoughts ran through her mind. He was terrified that something would happen to her and she smiled, pleased that he cared.

Then from nowhere, like a tidal wave washing over her mind, someone else's thoughts and memories crashed over her. She gasped and brought her hands to her head.

"Rogue!" Remy was at her side in a heartbeat. "_Chère_, what's wrong?"

"There's someone else in here," Rogue managed to say through gritted teeth.

"In the hospital?" he feared that the professor or someone else was attacking her mind.

"No... my head. Someone I absorbed. She's too strong! Ah!" She cried out and went limp, only Remy's quick reflexes preventing her from falling. Seconds later she came around.

"_Chère_?" he asked.

"Who are you?" Rogue looked around. "Am I still on Muir Island?"

"Yes." Remy had no clue what was going on. Rogue was speaking with a Boston accent and didn't seem to know who he was.

"What happened?"

"The professor," he explained. "He attacked everyone's mind."

Suddenly he was slugged in the gut, the blow sending him flying down the corridor. He could only be thankful for the armour that was incorporated into his X-Men suit.

"You're working with him, aren't you! That's why you're awake! What do you want with me?"

Remy was dragged to his feet and slammed into the wall.

"Who are you?" Rogue demanded

"Rogue! Come on, _chère_, I know you're in there, you've got to fight her!"

Rogue looked confused, then suddenly dropped him as her hands went to her head again. Seconds later she lowered her hands and knelt down beside where Remy had fallen.

"I'm sorry." She had her southern accent again. "She was too strong, I couldn't stop her."

"It's okay, _chère_, but I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't split up right now."

Rogue nodded and helped Remy back to his feet. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, but Rogue guessed it was from his fight with Betsy, she certainly couldn't have hit him hard enough to cause much damage, not with his armour on.

"Come on," she said, wrapping her arm around his waist to help support him.

She had a million questions running through her head, all revolving around the strange new psychie she found in her mind. Who was she, why was she so loud and strong, and where the hell had she come from?

"Don't get introverted," Remy warned. "Talk to me, _chère_. The more you keep to yourself, the better chance she has of taking you over again."

He suspected that the new voice in her head was the patient that she had fallen on, and who she was still draining when Remy pulled her off, but now wasn't the time for twenty questions. First they had to stop the professor, then they had to keep Rogue sane, then they could figure out who the blond patient had been and why she was trying to control Rogue's mind.

"Halothane," Remy said, already moving the canister to the trolley. "This should do the trick."

Rogue helped him and found that she could lift it with ease.

"Are you sure it's full?" she asked.

Remy checked the pressure dial. "90% full," he answered. "Come on, we have to hurry."

Knowing they couldn't split up, they had changed their plans and now headed back to the ward where they first met the professor. Rogue lay down near where she had been knocked unconscious and Remy set the gas canister up close by her.

"You sure you're up to this?" he asked.

"I feel fine," she smiled as reassuringly as she could.

Remy nodded, mainly because they didn't have much choice, and headed towards the other end of the room. While his gift prevented psychics from reading his mind, it didn't stop him from broadcasting his thoughts when he wanted to.

_'Oh Professor? You didn't really think that you could take me out that quickly, did you?'_

_'You are of no importance to me, LeBeau.'_

_'That's a shame, Charles. Looks like I'll have to call in those reinforcements.'_

He took his communicator out and could feel Charles' mind trying to probe his own, without success. If Remy was right, he and Betsy would soon be on their way back to stop him. It didn't take them long, barely more than five minutes to be exact, and Remy smiled as they came into the ward.

"What took you so long?" he asked, folding the communicator and putting it away. Then he heard the soft hiss of gas and took a deep breath. He was in excellent health, not to mention very fit, and he could hold his breath for up to five minutes if needed. Of course, that was without much movement and as Betsy came forward, he could tell that he would soon have to be very active.

Neither she nor the professor seemed to register the hiss of gas and while he put up the pretence of a fight, Remy quickly allowed himself to be knocked about because the more energy that Betsy expended, the more breaths she would need to take.

By the time she was getting dizzy from the gas, he too was feeling dizzy, but from lack of air. He managed to make it out to the hallway while she collapsed a few feet from the door. Remy took a few moments to recover, then with another deep breath he headed back into the ward.

The professor, realising that something was up, was at the other end of the room, trying to get out of the double doors there. Unfortunately Remy had secured them before anyone arrived and the professor had fallen unconscious before he could get out.

Remy didn't much care about him, he picked Rogue up then carried her out to the hallway. He retuned for Betsy but left the professor where he was. The gas would continue to circulate within the ward but he doubted that, given the size of the room, there would be enough gas to do permanent damage.

He carried both women into the neighbouring ward, where they wouldn't be exposed to the gas, and called the X-men to update them.

Soon after he ended the call, not only did Rogue and Betsy wake up, some of the other patients began to as well. They all had questions that Remy couldn't answer but finally word of the newcomers seemed to reach someone called Moira, who came and found them. It seemed that she had some answers for them.

"You're Charles' X-Men?" she asked.

Rogue nodded.

"I was hoping you would come, but I didn't have time to get word to you."

"What happened?" Remy asked. "How is the professor alive?"

"That I don't know," Moira answered. "Charles was found washed ashore on a neighbouring island but he was unconsciousness, so no one knew who he was. He was taken to a hospital on the mainland. A few weeks ago I began to have vivid dreams about him and slowly I realised that he was trying to contact me. It took some digging but I tracked him down eventually and had him brought back here."

"Why didn't you contact the school?" Remy asked.

"Because I wanted a chance to assess his condition before I contacted you. By that point he'd been in a coma for months, I didn't know if there was even anything of Charles left in there, and I didn't want to get your hopes up."

"Then what happened?" Remy asked as he watched the dazed and confused people around him trying to make sense of everything.

"I don't know. Charles had only recently arrived and I was in his room. I'd taken his vital signs and was just leaving to get the EEG machine, when he called my name. I couldn't believe he was awake. Then the next thing I remember was waking up in his room, only I was alone."

"How could he survive what Jean did?" Remy asked, though neither Betsy nor Rogue seemed inclined to answer.

"I have a theory," Moira answered. "Charles is a powerful mutant, class four at least, but he doesn't really use his powers to their full strength, because he knows the damage they could do. I think that, perhaps like Jean Grey, only the darker side of his consciousness would use the necessary power to save himself, or perhaps I should say, reassemble himself."

It made sense to Remy, in a very freaky sort of way.

"Can we get our professor back?" Remy asked.

"I don't know. Hopefully his mind is intact and healed, in which case a psychic could go in and suppress the dark side of his consciousness, but if his mind isn't in tact, if it's fractured, it might take weeks to repair the damage."

While they spoke, Rogue kept rubbing her temples and wincing occasionally, as though she had a headache or something.

"The other X-Men are on their way," Remy said. "In the meantime, is there somewhere Rogue could rest?"

Moira looked surprised at the request but nodded.

"My office. I shouldn't have need of it for a few hours at least, there's so much to sort out."

She showed them where it was and Remy settled Rogue on the floor. He would have preferred a bed, but beggars couldn't be chooser.

"How do you feel?" Remy asked.

"I can't tell what's me and what's her," Rogue said softly.

"Look at me," he commanded, putting his hands on either side of her face and forcing her to look at him. "You are Rogue, Anna Marie, and you are an X-Man."

Rogue didn't show any recognition at his words.

"I'm losing myself."

"Okay," Remy searched his mind to try and find a way to get her to remember who she was. "What's your favourite song?"

"I... I don't know."

"Tell me who your friends are?"

"Sa... No, I... I don't know. I don't know any more! Help me."

"What's my name?" he asked.

"R- Remy."

"That's right, I'm Remy, and I'm your friend. Focus on that for now, focus on me."

"You love me!" she said, sounding confused.

"Yes, yes I do, and I'm not going to lose you to any psychosis, do you hear me?" Maybe this wasn't the time for decelerations of love, but he would do whatever it took to keep Rogue anchored in reality.

Rogue nodded. "I... I think I love you too."

"That's good to know." Remy couldn't help but smile at such a statement, it was hardly the confident response to a deceleration of love that he might have wished for.

"I don't think she knows you, so it must be me."

Remy didn't have any experience of dealing with the voices in her head, so he was at a loss to know what to do.

"I'm tired, Remy."

"Then go to sleep," he said.

Rogue nodded and slowly and lowered herself to the floor. Remy watched over her for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief; hopefully by the time she woke up, they would have some kind of plan to help her.

Remy's relief didn't last long though, as Rogue suddenly shot upright.

"Rogue?"

She looked at him, her expression filled with fear, then she got to her feet and literally took off, easily punching through the upper floors as she flew off, up into the atmosphere.

"_Merde_!"

* * *

"Remy, what's the situation?" Storm asked as she disembarked from the blackbird.

Remy led her and the others into the building and towards Moira's office, which he had made his base.

"Charles is sedated, Betsy is recovering but doesn't believe that she has the skills necessary to repair his mind. Rogue absorbed someone by accident and her personality is now the dominant one, and she took off in Rogues body."

"What do you mean, took off?"

"Flew," Remy said, pointing to the hole in ceiling as they entered the office.

Remy pulled a file off the desk an handed it to storm.

"The person she absorbed was Carol Danvers, AKA Miss Marvel. Her powers are invulnerability, super-strength and the ability to fly. She's here because of suspected appendicitis, which isn't easy to treat if you're invulnerable. She-"

"Back up," Storm interrupted. "Rogue pretty much has her powers under control now, how did she absorb enough of this woman for her psyche to take over?"

"She was knocked unconscious and her head came to rest on Carol's arm."

"And what of this Carol Danvers?"

"She's comatose," Remy said sadly.

Storm took a deep breath the turned to the others, directing them to help Moira wherever possible, then she turned back to Remy.

"Okay, Rogue could be anywhere so we'll need to use cerebro to find her. Betsy still isn't good enough for that, so first we need to find someone who can fix the Professor's mind."

"I might be able to help there," Remy said, though he didn't sound happy about it.

"How?" Storm demanded. "It needs to be a class four or five psychic."

Remy sighed. "Ever heard of Emma Frost?"

"From the Hellfire Club?"

"That's her."

"We can't trust her."

"She might work for the bad guys, Storm, but she does have a code of ethics and she owes me a favour. She'll do it."

Storm was silent for a few moments before answering. "I don't like this."

"I don't much like it either, but I don't see that we have any choice, do you?"

Again Storm paused before answering, then she nodded her head. "Do it."

"I'll take one jet, you take everyone else back to the mansion in the second one. I'll bring Emma to the school once I've found her. Make sure you keep Charles sedated, none of you are any match for him if he begins his psychic assaults again."

Storm nodded and Remy left.

* * *

Emma wasn't happy about being summoned by Remy, but equally she hadn't been thrilled to be in his debt all these years, so she had agreed to help, providing that her debt was now expunged. Remy accepted those terms.

While the dark side of the professor's consciousness was in charge, his mind wasn't fractured and in need of repair. It still took her two days at the professor's bedside before she was able to properly repress that dark side of his consciousness, thus allowing the professor they all knew and loved to regain control.

Betsy monitored Emma constantly for any wrong doing or nefarious thoughts. She was no where near as good a telepath Emma, but it was better than nothing. She told the others that Emma had done what was asked of her and that Betsy could detect nothing untoward in her thoughts.

"I take it I can go now then?" Emma said.

Remy nodded. "Unless you'd like to stay overnight again."

"I'd rather make my way home."

"Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome, just don't call on me again."

Remy nodded and Emma strode out of the mansion, where her white Bentley was waiting on the driveway for her.

The professor awoke a few hours later, once his sedatives had worn off. He was shaky physically, which was hardly surprising after months in a coma, to say nothing of being vaporised before that, but his mind was as sharp a ever.

He was able to find Rogue easily the next day, because she was watching the mansion. Carol was still the dominant personality, she clearly had access to Rogue's memories, though she was wary of trusting these people. Xavier put her to sleep with his mind, then she was brought inside where Charles could work on her mind and restore balance.

All the while he worked on Rogue in the med lab, Remy waited outside. He preferred to wait inside, but the professor had thrown him out when his incessant pacing and shuffling of cards became distracting.

When the door finally opened, Remy was in such a hurry to see how she was that he actually vaulted over Xavier and his chair.

"She is fine, Remy." Charles assured him.

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely. When Rogue absorbed her, Miss Danvers was reliving her worse nightmares and didn't understand what had happened. She was frightened and angry."

"And now?"

"She and Rogue have come to an understanding. She realises that Rogue didn't meant to hurt her, and she understands that it was outside of Rogue's control."

"That's it?"

"Well it was a little more involved than that, and I had to reinforce many of Rogues mental shields, but she should be fine now."

Remy let out a long breath.

"It might also interest you to know that since contact was so prolonged, Ms Marvel's powers appear to be permanent. I also suspect that Miss Danver's coma will be permanent."

"So Rogue is invulnerable now?"

"It would appear so, as well as incredibly strong and able to fly"

Remy could live with that, maybe it would stop him worrying about her so much.

"Do we have to tell her about Carol?"

The professor thought for a moment. "I can suppress her memory of absorbing Miss Danvers, if you would like. At some point she will most likely begin remember, but hopefully she will take the news better than she might do now."

"Do it."

Charles touched two fingers to one temple and closed his eyes.

"It is done," he said a few minutes later as he looked up at Remy.

"Thank you, Charles."

"Thank you, Remy. Without you and Rogue, who knows what damage I might have done. You saved me from myself, and for that I will always be grateful."

Charles left then but Remy stayed with Rogue until she woke up.

"Hey," he smiled at her. "How do you feel?"

Rogue didn't answer for a while but seemed to be trying to piece events together.

"I feel okay," she finally said.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Bits and pieces. It feels like a dream." she reached out and took his hand. "I- I remember that you love me."

Remy stood up, then leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"It doesn't change anything, _chère_," he told her softly.

"Don't I get a say?" she asked.

"No," he shook his head. "You can't make an informed decision because you don't have all the facts."

Despite being asleep for the better part of a day, Rogue was too tired to argue with him.

"Then I think I'd like to be alone," she said, and though he looked dejected, he left.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

The professor slotted back into the school easily, almost as though he'd never left. There were changes, of course, such as new students and Betsy joining the staff, Logan had left (for a while at least), Scott was dead, Jean was dead again, and a number of the faculty were now not old enough to drink, but Charles took it all his his stride, as usual.

Though the school had mourned for him, without a body they'd been told they had to wait 7 years to declare him dead, so his financial affairs were easy for him to take charge of again.

Rogue soon got to grips with her new powers since, like all the powers she stole, she seemed to instinctively know how to use them. She did crush or break a few objects in anger, but quickly got even that under control.

As Easter loomed closer, Rogue finally decided to go and visit her folks. She didn't know why now, exactly, but they had been in her thoughts more and more recently and she just felt that it was just something she felt she needed to do. Remy was right, one way or the other, she needed to find out if they could reconcile.

Storm granted her leave over the Easter holiday, though Rogue swore her to secrecy over the reason and her destination. Remy was surprised to hear that she was taking a holiday, but she lied and said that she was going to a retreat to learn to meditate and better control the voices in her head. Professor Xavier was helping her once again but everyone knew that she still had nightmares, usually from other peoples memories, though to be fair, she had enough of her own bad memories to justify a few sleepless nights.

She left the day before school broke up so that the others couldn't follow her, and drove down to Mississippi to give herself plenty of time to think on the way. Her parents, Owen and Priscilla D'Ancanto, lived in Caldecott County, Mississippi, which was a two day drive from the school, and she arrived there on the Saturday evening. She didn't really feel like meeting her parents after a 10 hour drive, so she booked into a little family run hotel, the kind that didn't require ID and a credit card. She paid for two nights in cash but was put on the spot when they asked for a name.

"Marie," she said as a reflex. They still looked at her though, clearly wanting a surname. She couldn't give then her real surname in case they knew her folks, so she gave the first one that came to mind. "Marie LeBeau."

They wrote it down and handed her a room key.

* * *

Remy took the smaller Blackbird and arrived in Caldercott County a few hours after Rogue. He parked the jet on top of a shopping mall (in stealth mode so it wasn't visible) and made his way to the hotel where Rogue's car was parked.

He went straight up to reception and asked for a room.

"Of course, sir, I just need a few details. Your name?"

"Remy LeBeau."

"Oh, your wife has already checked you in," the receptionist said with a smile.

"My wife?"

"Marie, she booked in a few hours ago."

"_Oui_," he bluffed. "She must have arrived sooner than she thought. What room is she in?"

"Room 9."

Remy made his way there and knocked. Needless to say, Rogue was angry when she opened the door to him.

"You followed me!"

"No, your car is lo-jacked."

"You followed me!"

"I traced you, there is a difference."

"Not in my book!"

"Rogue, I was worried about you and no one would tell me where you'd gone. When I saw you stop here, I realised that you were going home. I just thought that you might need a friend."

Her stance relaxed a little and she stood back so that he could enter the room.

"Did you book a room?" she asked, closing the door behind him.

"I tried, but they informed me that my wife had already booked our room."

Rogue was embarrassed. "Don't say one word, swamp rat!" She points her finger at him. "I was put on the spot, okay, and your name was the first that came to mind."

"Is that so?" Remy smiled.

"I don't know Logan's last name, okay? And I could hardly give my own."

He nodded, trying to hide his mirth. "You know, if you want some false ID, all you have to do is ask."

"Yeah, and you'd stick me with a name like Crystal Ball or something."

"Nah, you look more like a Candy Kane to me, or maybe with those streaks, Candy Striper."

Despite herself, Rogue laughed. "Thanks, I needed that."

"What are friends for," he asked. "Now, come on, if I'm sharing your room, that means that dinner's on me. Pick the fanciest place this town's got."

"Oh, real southern food!" she said with a smile. "Finally I get some real food."

"Hey, I take offence to that comment!"

"Okay," she grinned. "Finally I get some real food that's not cooked by you."

"That's better," he said. "Now come on, _chère_, show me your town."

They had a lovely evening, driving by all the old haunts where Rogue used to hang out with her friends, revisiting her school (with a little help from Remy's lock picking skills) and rounding off the evening with a lovely meal at the Julip Grill.

"Thank you," Rogue said once they were back in their hotel room. "After how badly things ended, I guess I forgot that I spent 16 happy years here. Well, mostly happy."

"My pleasure, _chère_." he smiled. "So I guess it's only gentlemanly if I offer to take the floor, _non_?"

Rogue didn't smile at the quip but stepped closer to him, until there was only a hair's breadth between them.

"I'd rather you shared the bed," she said softly.

Remy tried his hardest to hold onto his resolve but he just couldn't. Between seeing Rogue genuinely happy this evening as she recounted parts of her life to him, then the wine and the conversation over dinner, not to mention how grown up Rogue had looked over these last few months, he had lost the will to fight. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

While their clothes were being divested, Remy's better half tried a few more times to put a halt to things but he never got any further than "Rogue," before she was kissing him again, silencing his protests.

He took things very slowly, well aware that this was probably her first time. For all the phone numbers she came back from town with, she never saw those boys for very long and he couldn't see her being the one night stand kind of girl. He was right and while some pain was inevitable, he did his best to compensate with two 'earth shattering' orgasms. Her words, not his, which did wonders for his ego.

As she lay in his arms afterwards, he decided that he couldn't send her away now, because that would be a sure fire way to break her heart, and he had vowed never to do that. He only had one option left, and that was to make sure that Rogue never found out the truth.

* * *

They sat in the car for a long while the next day, watching the house they were about to approach. Remy didn't push, in fact he didn't do anything but hold her hand.

"Okay," she finally said. "Let's do this."

"You want me to stay here?" he asked. This was her family after all, and he had no automatic right to intrude.

Rogue shook her head, too nervous to speak. They got out of the car and Remy slipped his shades on, then took her hand, silently giving her strength. They paused on the front step and Rogue hesitated. After few minutes of her staring at the door, he finally spoke up.

"You don't have to do this," he said softly. He didn't want to talk her out of it but if she wasn't ready, he didn't want her to feel pressured.

"I can face Magneto and his brotherhood without a second thought, I can throw myself into deadly battles without batting an eyelash, regardless of how bad the odds are," she sighed. "And now I can't even knock on the door of the house I grew up in."

"They can hurt you in a whole other kind of way, _chère_." Remy squeezed her hand. "You don't have to do this now."

"Yes, I do." Rogue knocked on the door.

"Hello?" The woman who answered it looked a little like Rogue, but her hair was greying though of course, she didn't have her daughters white streak.

"Momma?"

The woman blanched as recognition set in. "Anna? Is that really you?"

"It's me, Momma."

Remy's fears subsided a little when Rogue let go of his hand and embraced her mother.

"I was so worried about you, I wondered every day what had happened to you."

"I missed you," Rogue said.

Finally they separated and Rogue introduced Remy to Priscilla.

"Come in, come in," Priscilla said, ushering them into the living room.

Remy looked around, more out of habit than a genuine worry that he might have to escape from here, but in doing so his fear grew again as he noticed a Friends of Humanity newsletter on the sideboard.

Priscilla set about making them tea while Rogue used the time to head up to her bedroom, with her mothers permission. Remy looked around, this time taking in his surroundings so that he could learn about his love.

"I can't believe they haven't changed anything," Rogue said as her fingers trailed along the bed.

Remy couldn't believe it either, especially if they were members of FoH. Surely such people would want to deny that their mutant daughter had ever existed, not keep her room as a shrine.

"You had some very questionable taste in music, _chère_," Remy teased as he browsed her CD collection.

"Like you didn't when you were 16," she said, coming to stand beside him and wrapping her arm around his waist. They looked around for a few more minutes until Rogue thought that tea would be ready.

Priscilla had gone all out, serving two types of cake and a selection of biscuits, clearly nervous and wanting to make a good impression.

"So, what have you and Dad been up to?" Rogue asked.

"Oh, not much has changed around here," Priscilla looked away. "But what about you? You look so grown up, what happened to you?"

"Well, I hitchhiked all the way to Canada, then I got taken in by this special school and after I graduated I went to work there."

Remy was pleased to note that she wasn't giving any names or specific details.

"You're too young to work at a school."

"They were a little short staffed," Rogue said, her tone darkening. "Not too many people want to teach at a mutant school."

"Oh, so you're still a... mutant?" Rogue looked confused so her mother continued. "It's just that when I saw you two holding hands, I assumed... the cure..." her voice trailed off.

"I got it under control," Rogue answered stiffly.

"I'm glad," her mother said, and she sounded sincere. "So how long have you two been dating?"

"One day," Rogue said with a laugh. "But we've known each other for years, almost since I left home. He's my best friend. Well actually, he was kind of tied for that position with Logan, but he just pulled ahead by a nose."

Remy smiled at Rogue and he noticed that while his mother blushed, she did genuinely seem happy for her daughter.

They chatted easily for a while until Remy began to notice that Priscilla kept looking at the clock on the mantle. As time went on, Rogue noticed that she was becoming more nervous too.

"Momma, why do you keep looking at the clock?"

Priscilla looked at her daughter, sadness filling her eyes, then she sighed. "Your father went fishing this morning with Earl, but he'll be back any time now."

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Rogue asked.

Her mother looked away, ashamed.

"Momma?"

Priscilla seemingly couldn't answer.

"_Chère_, he's a member of the Friends of Humanity," Remy finally supplied.

Priscilla looked at him, shocked that he had realised, while Rogue looked from one to the other, feeling both hurt and confused.

"I told him not to," Priscilla admitted, finally meeting her daughters gaze. "I've tried to get him to see reason, to be logical but..."

No one spoke for a few moments.

"You should go before he gets back," Priscilla said. "If you're here when he gets home, I don't know what he might do."

Rogue's hurt was quickly replaced by anger.

"This is my home too! I'm not afraid of him, Momma. I hoped that he'd maybe changed while I was away but even if he hasn't, he can't hurt me any more."

Remy didn't think that was quite true. Perhaps she was physically invulnerable, but mentally she could be as easily hurt as ever.

"Anna, please, I don't want any trouble."

"I won't start anything, but if he starts it, I _will _finish it."

"Why do you always have to be so wilful? It almost seems like you're trying to pick a fight."

"I don't try, Momma, but I won't be bullied. You shouldn't let him get away with it either. You don't help anyone by pandering to him."

Before anything else could be said, they could hear garage door as it opened. Priscilla got to her feet, looking terrified. Rogue stood up too, but she didn't look scared. Seconds later her father walked from the garage into the connecting kitchen, and paused as he spotted the strangers in his living room.

"Priscilla, who are these folks?"

"Don't you recognise your own daughter?" Rogue asked.

Owen's expression immediately hardened.

"I don't got no daughter!" he dropped the equipment that he'd been carrying and stormed into the living room, his face turning red with anger. "Get out of my house!"

"No."

Remy went behind Rogue and over to her mother, but no one seemed to notice him. He took Priscilla's arm and guided her into the kitchen, where they could see what was happening but were safe from harm.

Owen stalked closer to his daughter, using his height and his bulk (more fat than muscle) to intimidate her. Rogue stood her ground.

"Get out of my house, you filthy, mutant scum!"

"Make me."

Owen struck her across the face. Rogue didn't even flinch.

"Shouldn't you be helping her!" Priscilla asked Remy.

"_Non, mon coeur_ can take care of herself," he said, sounding rather proud. "She'd much rather I looked after you."

"But he's hurting her!"

"No, he's hitting her, there's a difference."

Owen used a closed fist across her face this time and when that didn't work, a fist to her stomach.

"Are you done?" Rogue asked. She didn't wait for an answer. "Good."

She grabbed his shirt and lifted him off the ground.

"Do you know the real reason you don't like mutants, Daddy? Because you're afraid that you can't bully them. You hated it when I couldn't touch, because that meant that you couldn't hit me any more. Well you can hit me all you want to now, Daddy, and I'll just serve it right back to you."

She threw him to the side of the room where he hit the wall and fell to the floor.

"Why you...!" He got to his feet and ran at her, but Rogue flew into the air before he could reach her. He was moving so fast that he hit the couch and fell over it.

"I got a few more tricks since we last met, Daddy, and I'm here to tell you that from now on, I'll be checking up on you, got it? If I see Momma with even so much as a band-aid, you will finally know what it feels like to be hated by a mutant, and believe me when I tell you, that's not a battle you can win."

Owen got to his feet again but didn't move towards her, instead he stood where he was and seethed.

"I'm gonna check in on y'all tomorrow, so I wouldn't go getting any ideas about taking your rage out on Momma. Come on, Gambit."

Remy let Priscilla go and she rushed straight to Owen's side, making sure that he was all right. Rogue drifted down to the ground and Remy wrapped his arm around her waist, then kissed her softly.

"I think you're checking on the wrong family member," Gambit said to Priscilla as they left. "But maybe that's just me."

He led Rogue from the house and back to the car, settling her in the passenger seat, then he drove them back to the hotel. Rogue was silent on the way and made no move to get out of the car when they arrived. She didn't stop Remy from helping her out and allowed herself to be led inside, like a child.

"Is she all right?" the receptionist asked as they entered.

"Fine, _chère_, her father doesn't much care for her choice in husband is all."

"Oh."

That lie allowed them to make it to their room with out any further interference. Remy sat Rogue down on the bed and pulled her into a hug; not thirty seconds later, Rogue threw off her stupor and began to cry. It was a while before her tears subsided, and even then Rogue didn't say anything as she pulled away and wiped at her eyes.

"Maybe this was a bad idea, _non_?"

"No, no I had to do this. I'm just glad you followed me." She gave him a slight smile.

"He was always abusive?"

Rogue nodded. "Not like today, well not often, but he always had a nasty temper."

"I'm sorry, _chère_." He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and he kissed her hair.

"Lot of people have it tougher," she said. "I'm lucky really, I have you and the X-men, a lot of people don't get a second family."

Remy smiled at her spirit.

"So, what do you say we get into our P.J.s, order some room service and find some ridiculous comedy to watch?"

Rogue smiled and looked up at him. "You know, when I said you were my best friend, I didn't mean my best girl-friend."

"What?" he grinned. "I've always wanted to know what you girls get up to on your sleepovers."

"Well contrary to popular belief, we don't wear skimpy underwear, give each other massages and have pillow fights."

Gambit gasped and clutched his heart. "Why would you say something like that? You're so cruel!"

"Okay, okay, I take it back, we do all that stuff, we just don't want you boys to steal the idea."

Remy laughed and pulled her back into his arms.

* * *

The next day Rogue got up before Remy and went to check on her mother, though she did so from afar. Priscilla had a black eye and was favouring her left side. Rogue flew to her fathers workplace, a garage, and waited outside for him.

As he got out of his truck and spotted her, he actually looked scared for a moment but he quickly covered it, though his poker-face was nothing compared to Remy's.

"What the hell do you want?" he yelled.

"You can't say I didn't warn you," Rogue said, quickly unleashing two punches, one to his left eye, the other to his ribcage. He had probably hit Priscilla many more times, but Rogue could do a lot more damage with one punch than Owen could. He fell to the ground, clearly in pain.

"What's going on here?" a man asked, rushing out of the garage, his name badge declared him to be Stan. "Who are you?"

"I'm this idiots daughter, for my sins. Who are you?"

"Stan, as in Stan's Garage. Why did you attack him?" he asked, kneeling down beside Owen.

"Yesterday I warned him that anything he did to my mother, I would do to him. I guess he didn't believe me so I gave him a black eye and bruised ribs, just like she's sporting today."

Stan didn't look quite so keen to help his friend after hearing that.

"She's lying, she's mutant scum!" Owen tried to yell, but his ribs were a little too sore to put the proper volume behind it.

"He's right, I am a mutant, but he only hates mutants because he can't bully us. The first time I can remember him hitting me, I was five. What kind of a man hits women and little kids?"

"My son's a mutant. He had the worst time with bullies in high school." Stan had now got to his feet and pointed his thumb at Owen "What do you want me to do with him?"

"You're a good man, you should call him an ambulance. And one for his home address too, I think Momma's gonna need X-rays."

He nodded. "Will do. And don't you worry, ma'am, we'll make sure he doesn't do it again," Stan assured her.

Rogue believed him. The South had its fair share of problems, but one thing it did believe in was protecting women and children.

"Thanks, Stan. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to meet my boyfriend, he'll be worrying about me."

Stan tipped his baseball cap at her and she smiled, then took off into the air, stopping to give Stan a brief wave before heading back to the hotel. Remy was up and dressed, and pacing back and forth as she climbed in through the window.

"_Chère_! Where did you go? I've been worried sick about you!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to see what I had to do."

Remy looked aghast.

"Please don't hate me."

"Hate you?" he asked. "_Chère_, I could never hate you!" He held his arms out for her and wrapped her in a loving embrace. "I just wanted to be there for you."

What really upset him was that she thought she was a bad person for hitting her father. Maybe there was a better way, but the bible itself said an eye for an eye, so who was he to argue with that? To his mind what Rogue was doing what was just and fair, and she had given her father ample warning.

"Don't ever think that I could hate you, _chère_. I love you, nothing could ever change that."

Rogue sniffed and burrowed in a little closer.

"So what happened?" he asked.

"I bruised his ribs and gave him a black eye. Seems that his boss wasn't aware he hit his wife and has promised to keep his eye on things for me. Plus his son is a mutant, so Dad couldn't even use that against me."

"That mean you're ready to go home?"

Rogue shook her head. "But I think I'm ready to move on. How about we go to New Orleans next?"

Remy's mood changed in a heartbeat.

"No, _chère_, we can't go there."

"Why not?"

"My family and I don't get on. I've been back before, it didn't work out."

"I'm sorry." He had been so good to her that she felt awful about dragging his family up.

"Not your fault, _chère_. So, what say we take a little tour of the south? We got over a week until we have to be back at school and if you want, we can stop in on your _mère _on our way home? "

Rogue smiled, pleased that he'd shrugged his sombre mood off so quickly. "Yeah, I'd like that."


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks to everyone for their reviews.

Some of you may have guessed Remy's secret, but I'm mixing up the comic plot lines a bit to try and keep thing interesting.**  
**

**Chapter Ten**

"Sentinels?" Rogue asked.

They'd only been back at the school for a week and already they were having briefing in the War Room. Maybe the respite they'd had since Alcatraz was over.

"It was before you came to the school, Rogue," The professor explained and after pressing a few buttons, a hologram of a sentinel appeared in the middle of the table.

"That looks like the giant robots we train against," Bobby said.

"Indeed," Storm smiled. "Did you never wonder where they came from?"

"I just thought someone liked robots," Bobby confessed with a shrug.

"And so they do, _mon ami_, but it was an anit-mutant scientist named Trask who liked them."

"I'm confused," said Kitty. "I haven't seen any three story high, flying robots with energy blasters. Surely something like that would make the news?"

"They were a prototype," the professor explained. "Designed to capture or kill mutants but in order to do so, they needed an awful lot of hardware and power, hence their size. Only three were ever made as they were unwieldy, not to mention costly."

"We broke into the base," Remy explained. "Destroyed the prototypes and thought that was that."

"Until now," the professor said. "Magneto sent me this footage earlier today."

He pressed a few more buttons and the screens around the war room filled with what looked like twin mutants fighting. The fight was brutal, both opponents formidable but it wasn't until the end of the clip, when one mutant fell, that they saw it's insides.

"It's a robot!" Bobby cried.

"Indeed," the professor said. "It seems they have managed to miniaturise their technology and fit it into a human sized shell."

"But how?" asked Pete. "That kind of power does not come cheap, or small."

"What about Iron Man?" Kitty said.

"Iron Man is _hot_!" Rogue felt the need to add.

"He _so_ is," Kitty agreed with a smile.

Gambit shot Rogue a funny look.

"What?" Rogue shrugged. "He is."

"Iron Man is a person in a suit," Bobby interrupted their conversation. "He makes the decisions. A computer to make those decisions would be huge, like a super computer or something."

"Except at the Stark Expo, there were drones there that fought with Stark, remember?" Kitty said. "Maybe Trask got his hands on some of the parts. Or maybe he teamed up with Hammer Industries or something."

"The how is not important at the moment," Storm said. "The who and the where is what matters."

"Yeah, but why make them look human?" Rogue asked. "Unless... I don't know about y'all, but I thought that was two mutants fighting."

"Yes," the professor said gravely. "Not only can these sentinels capture or kill mutants, any damage they do and human casualties they cause will most likley be blamed on mutants. A double edged sword, if you will."

"What do we know?" Gambit asked.

"Very little, I confess. Erik has provided me with what he believes to be their base of production, but even he says that the information may be incorrect."

"What's the deal with Magneto?" Rogue asked.

"I cannot say with any certainty. We know the cure is wearing off but we do not know how quickly or what individual factors might affect it. Magneto was also given a much larger dose than normal so I'm afraid that, unless Eric decides to share, we will not know how much of his powers have returned."

Everyone was silent for a few moments.

"So, I'm guessing that's my cue to case this joint?" Remy asked.

The professor nodded. "If you can get in and retrieve any information, then do so, if not, bring as much information back as you can."

"What about Logan?" Rogue asked the professor. "If these things are as fearsome as the ones in the danger room, won't we need him?"

"Yes, once we know the situation, I'll contact him through cerebro."

"Should I blow the base up?" Remy asked.

"Only if casualties can be avoided," the professor advised.

Remy nodded.

"I want to go too," Rogue said.

"_Chère_, you're hardly trained in breaking and entering."

"No, but the professor can't read your mind, remember, so he won't know if you're in trouble. Plus I can float, I'm like the stealthiest thief ever!"

"I was going to send Kitty as backup, but if you two believe you can remain professional, I have no problem with Rogue accompanying Gambit."

Rogue and Remy both nodded their agreement.

"Good, that is settled then. We will reconvene when you return."

The others wondered what was meant by 'remain professional' but no one mentioned it until after the meeting.

"So," Kitty said, sidling up to Rogue with a smile as she headed towards the kitchen. "You and Remy finally got it on?"

"What do you mean 'finally'?" Rogue bristled.

"Oh come on, you could cut the sexual tension between you two with a knife."

"All right, fine, we had sex."

"You had sex? That's it?"

Rogue didn't like this conversation but she also didn't want to be overheard, so she grabbed Kitty and pushed her into an unoccupied class room.

"You were away for two weeks, there has to be more to it than that," Kitty continued. "So come on, are you dating now?"

"I don't know, we haven't really talked about that."

"But he really likes you!"

"Kitty, he likes all women, or hadn't you noticed."

Kitty looked shocked.

"Look, I'm not saying that he doesn't have feelings for me, I know he does, but that doesn't stop him catting around, does it?"

"Rogue-"

"I mean he's out at least two night a week."

"But-"

"What if I'm just another flash in the pan and he'll get tired of me after a month?"

"Rogue!" Kitty finally yelled. "Will you just listen? I've seen Remy about town over the past few months and believe me, he used to get about but these days he just sits in a corner nursing a few beers, maybe he'll play a few rounds of pool or poker, but that's it. He even turns away women who try to chat him up."

"What?"

"I know, I couldn't believe it myself, but I've seen him a couple of times now and never with a woman. Well, unless you count Storm."

"Wh- when did this happen?"

"I don't know, it's not like I stalk him or anything. Well, maybe I did a little when I was still a student, but... I don't know, I suppose it would have to be about the time that you started to get your powers under control."

"But why?" Rogue asked. "He kept telling he we couldn't be together, so why'd he stop dating other people?"

"Maybe because he's such a ladies man, he was worried he wasn't good enough for you and needed to prove himself?"

That didn't sound right to Rogue.

"I guess if you want a real answer, you'll have to ask him." Kitty finished.

Rogue looked terrified.

"He's not a monster, Rogue."

"I know that!" Rogue snapped. "It's just... well..."

"You're new to this whole relationship thing?"

"Well, yeah."

"Oh Rogue, I don't think it matters how much experience you have, you never have all the answers. Or even most of the answers."

"Really?"

"Really," Kitty assured her. "And I know this may sound crazy but Remy being older is probably a good thing. Boys my age are just... Ugh! They don't know what they want, they don't know how to behave, they just grope and say they love you, when you know they don't and really just want to get into your pants. I'm probably making it sound worse than it is, but they are completely clueless. Remy might not look his age, but at least he has some life experience under his belt."

"And a little black book to rival the White Pages." Rogue was only half joking.

Kitty laughed. "I'd be willing to bet that that little black book only has one name in now."

Rogue liked that idea.

"So, was he good, you know, in bed?" Kitty wanted to know.

Rogue blushed. "I don't exactly have much to compare it to but I'd have to say, yes."

Kitty squealed.

"Hush!" Rogue admonished. "Now that's all you're getting out of me, Remy and I have to plan for the mission."

"We can put a bed in the Blackbird for you!"

"Kitty!"

* * *

The sentinel base was in the middle of the Rocky Mountains in Montana, well hidden from prying eyes.

Rogue navigated the Blackbird close to the base in stealth mode so they were undetectable, and landed on a plateau.

"Okay," Rogue said once they were settled. "What now?"

"Now, we hack," Remy said, bringing up a computer screen.

"What? No casing the joint or anything?" She came to stand behind his chair so that she could see the screen.

"Maybe in time but right now, we don't have a clue what we're dealing with. We have no plans or blueprints, nothing."

"But you can hack?"

"Personally, no, but I know where to get top notch hacking programs from."

"How did I not know this?"

"I haven't needed to use it for the X-Men yet, _chère_."

"So where did you learn how to get this stuff?"

Remy gave her a pointed look.

"No!"

Remy nodded.

"But you're an X-man, not a thief!"

"I'm both, _chère_. I told you I was no good for you, didn't I?"

"But why?"

"Simple, I took a few years off while Stormy was in college and realised I was getting rusty, nearly got caught on a mission because I wasn't up with the latest technology."

"I don't believe you."

"No? Then when we get back, look up these thefts and you'll see they coincide with my vacations or missions. Senator Kelly's journals-"

"The ones that were sold to a national newspaper?"

"That's the ones. Then there's the Hope Diamond-"

"That was you?"

"Oui. Next was the Turner painting-"

"But that was in England!"

"I caught a flight. Next came the Dead Sea Scrolls, then the Great Star of Africa, which was mounted in the Sceptre of the Cross-"

"Stop!" Rogue cried. "Remy, why would you take those things?"

"Different reasons. The Turner was a paid job."

"Who paid you?"

"The original owners."

"What?"

"The Nazi's looted a lot of artwork, _chère_, some of the descendants want their families possessions back."

Rogue didn't suppose that was so bad.

"What about the diamonds?"

"There was a rumour that they were both the right size and clarity to be used in a super computer, so I stole them and replaced them with cheap glass replicas."

"What did it matter to you if they were used in some computer or not?"

"Doesn't really, but it all depends on who's designing the computer. This one had Senator Kelly's backing, and I just didn't trust anything that guy was involved with."

"So you stole them to slow him up?"

"Exactly."

That made sense, but it still didn't fit with her image of an X-Man. Then again, Logan didn't much fit with that image either. Rogue turned away from Remy.

"You upset with me, _chère_?"

"No, not upset, exactly."

"Got a good price for the diamonds too, once I'd cut them up of course, couldn't risk them being sold on to Kelly."

Rogue had been a little blindsided by this development, but nothing he did sounded too awful. And weren't they here to steal, even if it was only information?

"Ah hah!" Remy cried. "We're in."

"That didn't take you long." She didn't mean to sound defensive but she couldn't help it.

"Their firewall is beyond rubbish. I guess they thought that secrecy and the cover of the mountains was enough protection."

"But surely you can't just hack straight into their system?"

"No, but a lot of people in there have internet access on their personal computers. I just followed them in until I found a computer that was also connected to the main terminal. Now it might take a few hours before this Dr Thornton connects his laptop to the base servers, but in the meantime there's a lot of data still on his machine."

"Like what?" she asked, despite herself.

"Well for one, he watches a lot of porn."

Rogue thumped his shoulder.

"Easy, _chère_, you've got to remember that you can crush me like a bug now," he said, rubbing his shoulder.

"Sorry." She looked contrite. "So did you get anything useful?"

"Well, he has some design schematics which I assume are for the sentinels, but just a few circuits, not the whole thing."

"Can you send them back to the X-men?"

"Already done. Now we just have to wait until this Thornton uses the mainframe."

"What do we do until then?" Rogue asked.

Remy raised an eyebrow. "I can think of a few things, _chère_."

"Remy! We're on the Blackbird!"

"So, no one's watching us."

"Is that all you think about?"

"When you're around, of course!" he teased.

"That's not funny!"

Remy sighed. "What's eating you, _chère_? You've been in a funny mood since we left the mansion."

"Nothing," she said, turning away.

"I can tell that you're lying, and I can tell that you're scared."

"You and your empathy," Rogue spat. "Have I told you how annoying that is?"

"Don't need empathy to read you. So come on, what is it?"

"I..."

"I won't bite."

Rogue took a deep breath. "Do- do-you-really-like-me-or-am-I-just-another-conquest-for-you?" In her haste, the sentence came out as one long word.

Remy got up from his chair and came to stand behind Rogue, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder.

"I should have guessed you'd feel insecure," he sighed. "I suppose I have earned something of a reputation but, _chère_, I will never hurt you. You know that, right?"

"I know you wouldn't mean to hurt me."

"You don't trust me?"

Remy grasped her shoulders and turned her to face him. He took her hand and placed it against his cheek.

"Then absorb me, become me, no secrets, no shame, so that we can get past this and move on the way I want us to, together. It's your choice."

It was a risky move, he had secrets that would make her current nightmares look like a walk in the park, but if she wanted complete honesty, he would give it. He felt the slightest tingle against his cheek before she pulled her hand away.

"No! We are together, Remy, and we always will be."

He pulled her into a hug, almost sorry that she hadn't chosen not to absorb him, then at least this interminable weight would be lifted. It would destroy Rogue though, and her love for him.

* * *

When they finally had the data connection that they needed, Remy downloaded what he could and forwarded it all to the X-Men.

"Now what," Rogue asked. "Do we break in and steal the files?"

"Not much point in that, _chère_."

"Why not? You can't have gotten everything."

"No, not everything, but the computer core is massive and well protected, in fact I'd be willing to bet that this is Senator Kelly's super computer. Plus, they have over 50 sentinels ready to deploy. We just can't get to the computer without someone setting off the alarm."

"Really, even you can't?"

"Given a month of planning, sure, but we don't have that kind of time right now."

"So what do we do, blow the joint?"

Remy brought up the blueprints for the base.

"Can't. This base is massive, it would take an explosion akin to a small nuke to eradicate it. Now that's no problem for me but if I give any warning, they'll unleash those sentinels on us. I don't like odds of 50 to 2."

"And if we don't give any warning, everyone on the base will die."

"Exactly." Remy sighed.

"So what do we do?"

"Their cameras are fairly easy to access but on an independent circuit. I think our best bet is to break into that system and send as much data back home as we can."

"What good will that do?"

"First, it will give us their daily routine, plus things like security codes, so if we do decide to break in at a later date we'll have a much better picture of what we're facing. We'll get to see parts of the base that we could never hope to see otherwise."

"So we can see this super computer?"

"Exactly, _chère_."

"Okay, so what do we do?"

Remy explained his plan and to her delight, included Rogue heavily in it.

"You're only taking me with you because I can fly," she teased.

"Why would I cut through fences and risk triggering silent alarms when we can just fly in?" he answered with a smirk.

"You just like using me as your taxi cab," she said as she picked him up in a fireman's carry.

"There is something very sexy about a girl who can pull her own weight, and mine. Just make sure you let me do the carrying when it comes to thresholds, okay _chère_?"

"Whatever you say, sugar," she said as they left the Blackbird and she took off into the air.

"Sugar?" he asked. "I suppose it's better than 'swamp rat'."

"I still reserve the right to call you that."

Remy smiled but they both shut up as they approached the edge of the base.

"Keep low," he whispered. "Skim the top of the buildings and head for that four story one."

Rogue did as he said and they lightly touched down on the flat roof.

"Now what?" she asked softly.

"Now you lower me into that ventilation shaft."

"But you always say ventilation shafts are only used in the movies."

"That's normally the case because they can't hold a person's weight, but you're going to be holding my weight, _chère_."

He began unscrewing the plate over a vent shaft and when he was finished, tied a rope around his ankles.

"Here," he handed her a small ear bud. "So we can talk without needing to shout. Sound travels well in vents."

She put the bud in as he did the same, then she slowly began lowering him into the shaft.

"Little more... little more. Stop!"

She did. Then she seemed to wait forever as he placed a transmitter onto the camera circuits. All she could hear through her ear piece were faint sounds, which she assumed was him attaching the transmitter.

"Okay, Rogue, reel me in."

Rogue began pulling him up and once he was out, she was surprised when he began screwing the vent cover back on.

"Shouldn't we get out of here now?" she asked.

"The mark of a good thief is that you never know he's been there. Only amateurs panic and leave behind signs that they were there."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Back at the mansion, they combed through the data that they had been able to get. Remy mostly just focused on the building and security in order to get back in at a later date, while the others looked through the rest of the records. After a week, they met again in the war room.

"Remy," asked the professor. "How are you coming with the accessing the super computer?"

"It's possible," Remy replied. "But the timing must be perfect. I need more time."

Charles nodded. "Kitty, what have we discovered from the rest of the data."

Kitty was the resident computer expert, so she usually got the job of combing through computer records.

"The super computer is something called Master Mold, and it oversees the production of and programming for all the smaller units. Without looking at the program, I can't say how advanced it is but from the way that they talk, it's pretty advanced AI."

"AI?" asked Pete.

"Artificial Intelligence. This computer is like the mother of all computers, literally since it's making the sentinels."

"Could we implant a virus?" Storm asked. "It could filter down into the sentinels being produced."

"Maybe, but I'd need to see the programming first and write a virus just for this computer. Plus, the units that have already been manufactured won't get the virus unless they need a program update."

"I'm more interested in where they're getting their financing," Remy said.

"I went over the accounting records, we got" Bobby said. "Obviously when Kelly died they lost their funding from him, but they found a new backer recently, who provided 90% of their financing."

"Who?" Remy wanted to know.

"Don't know. Whoever this guy is, he's super secretive. All I have for him is numbered bank accounts in the Cayman Islands."

"What about emails? Don't they ever communicate with him?" Rogue asked.

"Sure, but they only use a codename. Even Kitty hasn't been able to trace his IP address."

"I think we need more information," Kitty said with a finality that wasn't like her. "We need to break in and get a copy of what's on that super computer."

"I'm inclined to agree," the professor said after a pause. "So far we have no information on them planning to unleash these sentinels, so I think it's safe to assume that we have a little time."

"I'll draw up my plans as soon as I can," Remy said.

"Good."

"Did you have any luck getting hold of Logan, professor?" Rogue asked.

"Unfortunately no," he frowned. "I have been trying every day but wherever Logan is, he seems to be shielded from me."

Rogue sighed. Logan's claws were pretty much the only thing that could damage the sentinels in the danger room, she'd hate to go up against the new and improved homicidal robots without him.

"I'll keep trying," the professor assured them. "Until then, this meeting is adjourned."

As everyone filed out, no one noticed the yellow flicker that came into Kitty's eyes, nor her small smirk.

* * *

"How are those plans coming along, sugar?" Rogue said, wrapping her arms around Remy's shoulders.

Remy sighed. "Not getting very far."

"What's the problem?" she asked

"Timing. There just isn't enough time to get between the security measures once they've been disabled.

"How do you mean?"

"Well I can't over ride the security, all I can do is knock each system out for a few seconds at a time. These lasers for example, I can re-set and they'll be off line for three seconds, but there isn't time to clear the laser field in three seconds."

"What about taking Kitty with you so you can phase through them with her?"

"That would work for the lasers, but what about the heat sensors, we'd still give off infra red radiation while phased."

"Well for that one we'd need Bobby to cool things down."

"And for the floor sensors we'd need you to fly us over, and for the guards we'd need Charles to 'Obi Wan' them, then for this power grid, it would take a lightening strike to knock it out." Remy added. "It's almost like this system was built with us all in mind. Someone knows all our powers, and by using so many different types of security that we couldn't possibly get through it without all of us."

"Well I guess with Striker and stuff, our gifts are pretty well known to anyone interested enough to go looking."

"Let's just hope our real names aren't so well known."

"Could all of us go?" Rogue asked.

"The more people we have, the more chance there is that things will go wrong."

"Well I guess I could absorb the others just before we go in, then there'd only be two of us. If they don't mind, that is."

"Gimme some more time first, hey?" Remy said. "Maybe I overlooked something."

When Remy finally informed the others that the best plan to get into the central computer was for Rogue to absorb the other team members, Kitty scowled. Fine, if Mohamed wouldn't come to the mountain, the mountain would come to Mohamed.

* * *

Rogue and Remy were in the danger room running a simulation of the break in, when the mansion alarm sounded.

"We're under attack," Remy said. "Computer, end simulation. Come on." He grabbed Rogues hand and they ran from the danger room.

Most people's thoughts were on Striker and his attack on the mansion but he was dead, so this had to be something else. Remy had revised the mansion security after that attack and drills were regularly run. As such everyone seemed to be evacuating, knowing exactly how to get to the panic rooms that had been installed beneath the school.

Kitty, Betsy and the professor were making sure that everyone was safe so the others headed outside, where the alarm had been triggered. Flying en masse into the grounds were what looked like mutants. Each was dressed differently and had different hair. But the faces were all the same. Not to mention that each one was using what looked like Tony Stark's boosters on their hands and feet to fly.

"Sentinels!" Rogue cried.

"But they aren't supposed to be active!" Bobby argued.

"Well, too late to argue semantics now, _mon ami_, they're here."

Rogue flew up into the sky, on a crash course for one of the sentinels. She smashed into it, then threw it into the path of another.

Bobby turned into his ice form, then began icing up as many of the robots as he could.

Remy wanted to charge them all with a look, but he knew from the design specifications that the amount of charge needed to destroy one could be dangerous to the rest of his team. He pulled out his cards instead, preferring to direct smaller charges at delicate areas.

Pete turned into his metallic form and tossed the sentinels into the ground or into other sentinels, while Storm called on lightening to strike them.

For a while they seemed to be winning but soon the sheer numbers began to overwhelm them.

"Thought you said there were only 50 of these!" Bobby cried as he got slammed into the ground.

"There were!" Remy answered, crash landing not far away from Bobby.

In the end it was the sleeping gas that eventually got them all, and even Rogue's invulnerability couldn't protect her against that.

* * *

Rogue groaned as she woke up to a pounding headache.

"Rogue's up." Kitty said. "That just leaves Bobby."

"He's hurt," Remy said. "The longer he sleeps, the better."

"Where are we?" Rogue asked.

"The sentinel base," Remy said.

"Well that can't be good."

"I still can't believe that none of you noticed I was missing!" Kitty cried.

Rogue looked over at the girl. "Hey, weren't you supposed to be watching the kids?"

"No! Because I've been here for weeks and not a single one of you noticed!"

"Weeks!" Rogue hadn't heard his before so was understandably shocked.

"It appears that Mystique has been playing the role of our Kitty." Storm explained.

"What happened?" Rogue asked.

"I was out shopping and the next thing I know, these freaky twin brothers attacked me. Then I woke up here. I should have realised that they were sentinels."

"We believe Mystique somehow blocked cerebro from contacting Logan too," Remy added. "His sense of smell is the only sure fire way to know she's around, so of course she'd want him out of the picture."

In one way Rogue was relieved, because when cerebro couldn't find him she had feared the worst, but in another way, she felt pretty crappy for not noticing that Kitty wasn't Kitty.

"So when did you go missing?" Rogue asked.

"Two days after you and Remy hit this place."

Rogue breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that it had been Kitty she's spoken to about Remy and not Mystique. It was petty to worry about such things at a time like this, but she couldn't help it.

"So how do we get out?" Rogue asked.

"We can't, these collars are inhibiting out powers," Kitty explained, and Rogue noticed that everyone was wearing one.

"And like I keep saying, Kitty-Cat, Gambit don't need powers to get out of locks." He brandished his hands, dangling the cuffs on the end of one finger and lock picks in his other hand. "Who's next?"

"I am."The lights in the room went up to full power, revealing a new mutant silhouetted in the doorway.

"And who might you be?" Gambit asked.

"I am Erik the Red, and I am here to ensure justice is served."

"Justice?" asked Kitty. "How is keeping me here justice?"

While Erik turned to Kitty, Remy took the opportunity to attack. Even without his powers, he was a skilled fighter, but Erik called on the sentinels and Gambit was eventually restrained. Erik approached Bobby and injected him with something, and a few moments later he began to come around.

"All my months of preparation and planning will now pay off," Erik smiled. "The mutant, Gambit, doesn't deserve the life he now leads and the day of retribution is upon him."

The dim lighting in the room rose and they noticed that the room had been set up to look a little like a court room. Remy sat alone, while the others were grouped to the side, like a jury.

"Many had names which will forever be lost thanks to their deaths," Erik said, grandstanding in the middle of the room. "Deaths enacted by none other than Mr Remy LeBeau. Gambit, you stand accused of the mass murder of the Morlocks."

The X-Men all looked at one another in shock, each trying to work out what was going on, except for Remy.

Even in the worst of circumstances, Remy always had a quip, a pun, or at least a generally optimistic air. Now he sat with his head bowed, as though ashamed.

"Those people were guilty only of looking different, yet you arranged their execution; their extermination, all because they were deemed inferior due to their 'deformities'."

The silence in the room was deafening as they each absorbed the charges.

"How do you plead?" Erik demanded.

From somewhere, Remy found the strength to look up, his gaze meeting Rogue. His eyes pleaded with her for forgiveness, while her expression begged for a denial.

"How do you plead!"

Remy knew this day would come, he just hadn't expected it to come so soon.

"Guilty," he finally admitted.

The silence was broken only by a series of collective gasps, each of the X-men unable to believe that it could be true.

"Remy?"

Unable to witness her pained expression, Remy looked away.

"The defendant has plead guilty, it is the job of this jury to decide in his sentence. Should-"

"Wait!" Rogue cried. "What about a defence? Everyone is entitled to a defence."

"She's right!" Storm cried. "He couldn't have done what you say."

"He plead guilty, child."

"I am not a child!" Rogue's hands curled into fists, anger taking over from confusion. "And even the guilty get to present mitigating circumstances!"

"She's watched way too much Court TV," Bobby whispered to Kitty.

Kitty was too shocked by the events to answer.

"I don't know who you are or what you think you're playing at here, but the Remy I know is not a killer. There has to be more to the story than you're saying!"

Erik the Red was silent for a moment.

"There is not. Sentence will be pronounced-"

"NO!" Rogue's anger boiled over and the next thing she knew, her collar was flying across the room, seemingly of it's own accord, and Erik and the sentinels who were present began to glow magenta.

"Is that Remy?" Pete whispered.

"I think that's Rogue," Kitty answered, since she was the only one without her collar at the moment.

The sentinels then shot up into the air, crashing through the ceiling and careening up into the atmosphere, where they exploded.

"Get down!" Storm cried, as the blast shook the building, causing rubble to fall from the holes in the roof.

Suddenly their shackles and collars all dropped away and Rogue stood up, her hair whipping around her head, though there was no wind.

"Did Rogue ever absorb Jean?" Bobby asked.

"Once, by accident," Storm answered. "Let's just get out of here!"

Once freed, Remy made his way over to Rogue, frightened for her mental health. Her expression was far too calm and controlled.

"_Chère_, are you in there?" he asked, cupping her face in his hands. "Come back to me, Rogue."

She just looked at him, her expression unfathomable. He wasn't really sure what was going on but if he had to guess, he would say that her anger had unleashed her other psyches. He was so used to being able to touch her that her absorption of him came as a total shock and he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Whatever she had absorbed from him, it seemed to snap Rogue out of her fugue-like state.

"Remy?" she ask, looking down at him.

Storm looked back to see Rogue staying put and Remy lying on the floor. She ran back for them.

"We have to go, Rogue, now! Can you carry Remy?"

Rogue nodded and picked him up, following Storm and the others outside. Other sentinels were on their way, but they didn't seem nearly so numerous as they had been at the school.

"Don't suppose you can fly them up into the atmosphere and explode them again, Rogue?" Bobby asked as he iced up the closest sentinel.

"I- I don't..."

"Never mind," he said, ducking a blow from another sentinel.

Rogue settled Remy against a wall, where she thought he would be relatively protected, and joined in the fight.

Alarms were going off all over the facility and people were running in every direction except theirs; only the sentinels came towards them.

Rogue might not have the power to telekinetically send the sentinels into the air any more, so she just threw them with her super strength instead.

Now that they knew about the sleeping gas, that was one of the first things the X-men disabled on the sentinels and so this time, they seemed to be winning. Bobby finally iced up the last one, supercooling it, and Pete then punched it, shattering it into a million pieces.

"Please tell me that's it?" Kitty begged.

"It would seem so," Storm said, though they all kept their eyes on the horizon.

"What now?" Bobby asked.

"There's a ridge over that way," Rogue pointed. "I say we head there and call the professor." She collected Remy and led the way.

They were all worse for wear and walked in silence for a while, until they finally felt that the danger had worn off.

"So Rogue, what was going on with you back there?" Bobby asked what they had all been thinking.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I can't even remember much. Maybe the professor can get more from my mind when we get back."

"So who was that Erik character?" Kitty asked.

Rogue shrugged. "Maybe Remy knows."

"Do you think he'll wake up any time soon?" Bobby pipped up, sounding a little frightened.

"I don't know!" Rogue snapped. "I don't actually remember absorbing him so I don't know how long I held on for, Bobby."

"Sorry, just, you know, making conversation."

"No, you want to find out what he did."

"Well, can you blame me? I mean Erik the Red says he committed a massacre and he plead guilty!"

"He didn't do it, Bobby."

"Then why-"

"Just wait until we get to the ridge and I'll tell you everything."

"Why can't you tell us now?"

"Because Remy's memories are still jumbled and I need some time to sort them out, okay? Is that all right by you, Ice_boy_?"

"Hey, don't you-"

"Enough!" Storm said, with an accompanying crack of thunder, which shut them up.

When they got to the plateau, Rogue lay Remy down on the ground. He was still out cold.

Kitty was the only one with a communicator, which she pulled out and used to call home.

"The professor's bringing the jet himself," she said as she hung up. "He's leaving Betsy in charge of the kids."

Everyone sat down on the rock, making themselves comfortable because even at top speed, the blackbird would take over half an hour to arrive.

"So, Rogue, perhaps you'd like to fill in some blanks for us?" Storm asked gently.

Rogue settled Remy's head in her lap before she began her tale, running her fingers through his hair.

"When Gambit was being held by Striker, he couldn't get out on his own."

"But he's a thief, he can-"

"Just let her tell the story, Bobby," Storm admonished.

"He is a thief and he can pick almost any lock, but Striker used specialised equipment to hold them and restrain their powers, as well as drugs and all sorts. Most of the time he was in there, Remy was half out of his mind on drugs. Considering what Striker was doing, in some ways it was a blessing.

"Then one day he heard this voice in his head. I don't think he thought it was real, but it offered him a chance to escape and in return Remy would own this voice a debt. Remy said yes."

"Who was the voice?" Kitty asked.

"Nathaniel Essex, better known as Sinister."

There was a collective gasp.

"He didn't like it, but once he was free, he knew that he had agreed to pay off his debt and no matter what people think of him, he does have a code of honour, even when he was just a thief and not an X-Man."

Bobby was about to speak up to ask for the story to be hurried along, when a harsh look from Storm quelled the statement on his lips.

"Sinister didn't ask anything too bad of him, mostly stealing, so Remy thought the deal was okay. I don't think anyone really knew just what a monster he was back then. Remy surely didn't, he wasn't even 20."

She took a deep breath and looked down at Remy, running her hands through his hair.

"Sinister finally said that if he assembled and trained an elite team for him, the debt would be expunged, so he did. Archlight, Scalphunter, Sabretooth, Harpoon, Riptide and Vertigo. As a final favour, Remy was asked to lead them into the tunnels below the city. He thought they just wanted access to something, he had no idea that they were sent there to kill the Morlocks."

Rogue began to cry, Remy's pain and despair still fresh in her mind.

"He tried to stop them, but it was one against six. They hurt him bad, but he was able to rescue one girl from the tunnels. Her name was Sarah."

"Those scars on his back?" Storm asked.

"Sabretooth's claws," Rogue conformed.

"Wow," was all Bobby could say, which Rogue was grateful for.

"And he blames himself?" Storm asked. A gentle rain began to fall, probably the result of Storm's emotions.

Rogue nodded. "He couldn't live with the guilt, so he left his family. He still thinks that it's all his fault, that if he hadn't assembled that team, those people would still be alive."

"Sinister would have just found someone else," Storm reasoned.

"I know, but he doesn't see it that way. He's been trying to make up for it ever since." Rogue's tears mingled with the gentle rain, dripping down onto Remy as she bent over him.

"Don' cry, _chère_," Remy said softly, though his eyes remained closed. "Gambit's not sure he can live with your disappointment." He sat up and looked into her eyes. "Please, _chère_, please don't cry because of what I did." His own eyes were shining with tears.

Rogue pulled him into her arms.

"I'm not crying because of you," she said. "I'm crying for you."

She felt Remy stiffen in her arms.

"_Chère_?"

Rogue pulled away and cupped his face in her hands.

"I saw it all, Remy, and I know just how appalled you were. I don't hate you. I could never hate you."

Then they were both crying, and even Pete and Bobby had to sniff a few times. Everyone looked uncomfortable to be witnessing such an intimate scene but there was nowhere else for them to go, so they looked away, giving Rogue and Remy as much privacy as they could.

The touching scene was interrupted when the Blackbird arrived and they all had to make way for it to land. Somewhat reluctantly, Remy and Rogue had to separate, but Rogue grabbed his hand, unwilling to let him go just yet.

The professor came out of the jet and looked up at the rain.

"Ororo?"

"Sorry, professor." The rain quickly stopped.

"I can see I've missed out on quite a bit."

"We'll fill you in on what we can the way home," Storm promised. "I think the base should be clear of humans now, professor. Perhaps you would check, and then we can destroy it once and for all."

Charles touched his fingers to his temple.

"The base is clear," he pronounced a few moments later. "They have had an hour to get away and should not be harmed by the explosion."

"Remy?" Rogue asked.

"I'll charge it from the air, then there's less chance that the blast could damage the jet."

Storm flew the jet while Remy looked out, focusing on the sentinel base. The explosion rocked the blackbird but didn't cause any damage and soon they were heading home, leaving nothing but a crater in their wake.

Rogue asked the professor to read her mind to find the answers, both so that he could tell her the parts that she couldn't remember, and so that Remy didn't have to relive his ordeal again.

The professor closed his eyes while he probed Rogue's mind and after a few minutes of intense concentration, he was finished.

"It would seem, Rogue, that you were able to harness the powers of those you had absorbed before and, fuelled by your anger, those powers were quite formidable. Though I must say, you did maintain focus for which you should be commended."

"I think I can remember now," Rogue said, rubbing her temples.

"But we still don't know who was behind this," Storm said. "Who was Erik the Red?"

"A disguise," Rogue answered. "When I used Jean's powers, I was able to see into her head."

"_Her_ head?" Kitty asked.

"It was Mystique," Rogue confirmed.

"So she was the financial backer?" Pete asked.

"My memories are still a little fuzzy, but I think when Magneto abandoned her, she turned her anger from humans to mutants. She thought that if we couldn't be united, then we would lose the war. She thought that by having a justice system, she could bring about peace among mutants and finally unify us," Rogue explained as best she could.

"I can see her being pissed at Magneto," Bobby said, "but why Gambit?"

"Because I don't think that she can find Magneto. He sent the professor the tape of the sentinels, so he obviously knows about them. Maybe he also knew who was behind it and was taking precautions."

"Okay, but where did Mystique get the funds to do something like this?" Kitty asked.

"Because once her powers returned she could literally become anyone, so she began syphoning money from rich people into her bank accounts."

Though she was piloting the jet, Storm was still listening to the conversation. "But the sentinel project was anti-mutant. How did she change their agenda?"

"She didn't so much change it as refocus it. They were still capturing mutants."

"So Remy wasn't the first?" Kitty asked.

"No. First she managed to capture Vertigo and after the so-called trial, the sentinels killed her. When Mystique couldn't find the other marauders, she settled for Remy."

"I suppose she would object to ethnic cleansing based on looks," Bobby said.

Remy hung his head lower.

"I know the guilt you feel, Remy," The professor said. "I regret to say that I have known what you did for some time."

Remy looked up at him shocked.

"While I was repairing the damage Striker had done to your mind, I couldn't help but encounter those memories."

"And you... you don't mind?"

"Remy, if I blamed you at all, if I thought there was the slightest chance that you could be the monster that you believe yourself to be, do you honestly think I would have restored your powers to their full potential?"

"I- Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Because I knew that you didn't like to speak of it and given what a gross invasion of privacy it was, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. Perhaps that was remiss of me. Until now, I don't think I truly grasped the level of guilt that you carry. If my silence has added to your burdens, I am truly sorry."

Remy didn't know what to say, so he said nothing.

* * *

Back at the school, the students were busy trying to repair the damage from the sentinel fight an the X-Men joined in. Thankfully the building wasn't badly damaged but the grounds would never be the same.

When they were done, everyone headed inside for dinner, but Remy slipped away and headed to his room. He wasn't sure how to feel and he had so many conflicting emotions that he thought it would take forever to work out how he felt.

He sat on his bed feeling numb.

"Remy?"

He didn't invite Rogue in but he new that wouldn't stop her. Sure enough she opened the door and let herself in, and Remy got to his feet an approached her.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like that, _chère_."

"I'm not."

He looked confused.

"I don't think that you would have told me on your own and I get why, but I'm glad I can finally share this burden with you. You shouldn't have to live with this on your own."

Remy pulled her into his arms.

"I don't deserve you." He whispered.

"Yes you do, Remy. You deserve the life you've built here and the family you've made. As for me, I think I might be more of a punishment than a treat."

Remy smiled.

"Come on, you need to eat something and you can't hide out up here forever."

"Does everyone know?"

"Only the X-Men, and none of us blame you." She took his hand. "Come on."

He allowed himself to be led out of his self imposed exile, but it took him a good few weeks before be was back to his normal, charming, glib self.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: **The use of the word resemble in the first few paragraphs is not a mistake, just something an ex of mine used to say.**  
**

**Epilogue**

It took the professor almost two weeks to figure out and fix what Mystique had done to cerebro to hide Logan from him, and by the time he was finished, they wondered if they should bother Logan with it. The incident had passed, after all, and they were all safe and well.

He'd been gone for seven months by that time and although everyone missed him, they decided to give him the time that he needed.

Quite by coincidence, Logan came home of his own accord about a week after cerebro was fixed, and walked into the kitchen as though he'd never been gone.

"Hey, what'd I miss?" he asked as he helped himself to a soda.

Remy, Rogue, Storm and Kitty were the only ones in there and they shared a look at his casual greeting.

"Oh, not much," Kitty said with a shrug. "The professor came back to life, Bobby and I broke up, the sentinels are back, I was kidnapped and no one noticed, Rogue killed Mystique, we wiped the sentinels out then Remy nuked the base, and these two clowns got together, finally. How was your trip?"

Logan smiled as he sat down opposite them.

"Took you long enough," was all he said to Rogue and Remy.

"I missed you too." Rogue smiled.

"Obviously," Logan scoffed. "Even made you desperate enough to date Gumbo."

"Hey!" Remy objected, "I resemble that remark, _mon ami_!" but his wink let Logan know that no offence was taken.

"And what about the school?" he asked.

"The school is fine, especially now that Charles is back," Storm said.

Logan wasn't as shocked by that news as they might have liked, because Charles has contacted him through Cerebro shortly after he got back to the school.

"Good." He looked to Rogue. "Those my tags?" he asked, noticing the chain around her neck.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On how long you're sticking around this time," she teased.

"Don't have any plans to leave any time soon, kid."

Rogue slipped the chain from around her neck and handed the tags back to him with a smile.

"It's good to have you home."

Logan slotted back into life at the mansion as though he'd never been gone, save for the danger room sessions becoming a little more arduous.

* * *

Tonight was the night of the schools annual dance and the whole mansion was busy preparing. The first part of the evening was a disco for the children aged up to 15, then from 7pm onwards, the older children had Xavier's equivalent of a prom.

The older children went all out, as you might expect, and even the adults dressed up so they didn't look out of place acting as chaperones. Partners from outside the school were allowed to attend as someone's date, but while some did have friends in the local town, there seemed to be some unspoken rule among the children that this was their night, and any regular humans meant a complete veto on all powers. Even if it meant that they went alone or with a friend, everyone stuck to the unofficial 'no humans' rule.

Rogue had hated these dance when she was a pupil here as they only served as a reminder of what she couldn't do. She would never get to wear a pretty dress because they didn't make evening dresses that covered you from top top toe. Instead she made do, combining outfits, sewing arms that were not an exact match onto them or as in her first year here, not going at all. She couldn't really enjoy the slow dances either because even when she was dating Bobby, they couldn't dance cheek to cheek. They couldn't steal a kiss at the end of the night.

Tonight was going to be different though. Tonight she was dressed as she had always wanted to be. The dress was red, strapless, with a long flowing skirt and fitted bodice. She thought that she looked pretty good. She swept her hair up into a French pleat, securing it with rhinestone pins and leaving a few white tendrils down to frame her face.

She took her time getting ready, so the ballroom was about half full when she got there. Most of the missing students were the girls, probably making sure that every last hair was perfect before coming down to greet their dates and friends.

Rogue looked around for Remy and when she couldn't find him, stopped Storm as she passed.

"Have you seen Remy?"

"Not for a while. Last time I saw him he said he was heading up to the roof."

Rogue sighed. The roof was where he went when he was being introspective. She had thought that he was over the incident with Mystique and the trial, but maybe not.

"Thanks, Ro."

She headed out to the rear patio and looked up but she couldn't see Remy. Eternally grateful that she wouldn't have to risk tearing her dress by climbing the masonry, she gently flew up to the roof, and was so shocked by what she found there that she fell a few feet before she righted herself.

Remy was waiting for her, dressed in a tux and holding a champagne flute out for her. All around the roof he had lit hundreds of tea light candles and now that she was here, he took a remote control from his pocket and pressed a button, causing the delightful Louis Armstrong to start declaring What a Wonderful World it was.

Rogue glided down to the rooftop, landing just in front of Remy and accepting the champagne glass he handed her.

"Remy, I... When did you do all this?"

"Earlier today," he said. "I figure we can join the others later, but you look so _belle _tonight, that I want you all to myself for a while."

Rogue smiled, tears pricking her eyes. She had felt a little pathetic earlier, getting so excited about tonight when really her only function was as chaperone, but Remy had just made tonight so much more than a simple dance. He had made it magical.

"So how about a dance, _ma_ _chère_?" he asked, taking her glass from her and leaving them on a table with the ice bucket.

Rogue easily fell into his arms and swayed with the music.

"I'm not very good at dancing," she warned. "I haven't exactly had much practice."

"You don't need practice as long as you have the right partner," he assured her, pulling her close.

"I love you," she said, her voice almost cracking.

"_Bien_, 'cos I love you too, _chère_."

As the song changed to Eric Clapton and Wonderful Tonight, Rogue lay her lead down on Remy's shoulder, wishing that this moment would never end and that they could stay up here, in each others arms forever.

As the song ended, Rogue raised her head and looked up at the man she loved. She knew that he didn't feel worthy of her, but she intended to spent the rest of her life trying to prove him wrong.

His head dipped lower and he kissed her, passionately but at the same time, reverently. Rogue had never experienced a kiss like it and as he pulled away, she felt odd; excited but also nervous.

The music changed again to Anne Murray, singing You Needed Me, but rogue hardly noticed.

"Rogue," Remy smiled. "From the moment I met you, I knew that you were going to be trouble."

Rogue smiled.

"There you were, all spirit and fire and bravado, not to mention unbelievably beautiful and despite my best efforts to leave you alone and stay out of your life, you dragged me into it anyway. They call me a thief, but you stole my heart, _chère_, and without even trying."

He reached into his pocket and withdrew something which he kept clenched in his fist. He took a few deep breaths, then opened his hand.

"Rogue- Anna, will you marry me?"

Rogue was captivated by the ring that she saw resting in the palm of his hand. Three diamonds in a row, the centre one easily two carrots, with slightly smaller ones on either side, and mounted into a platinum setting. The candle light refracted off the stones as he grasped it between his index finger and thumb and held it out to her. It was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen.

"I know you're still young, and we can have a long engagement if you want, years if that makes you happy. And if you don't like the ring, just say so, I can get another one, a bigger one. Anything you want, _chère_."

"Remy?"

"What?"

"Shut up." She finally looked from the ring up to his expectant face.

His request had taken her by surprise, after all she wasn't even 20 yet and she just hadn't expected anything like this. It wasn't even that long since she'd got her power under control, and before that she had firmly quashed any and all dreams of marriage and family. But that didn't mean that she was about to say no.

"Of course I'll marry you."

His face split into the biggest grin that she had ever seen and he pulled her towards him and into a bone crushing hug. He was like a kid at Christmas time.

When he released her, he slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her.

"Do you want to go and tell the others?" he asked.

Rogue shook her head. "I want to stay up here with you for a while longer. Just us."

Remy smiled.

"Only, you forgot something," Rogue said, looking forlorn.

"_Chère_!" There was a hint of panic in his voice. He had planed everything to the _n_th degree and he couldn't believe that he might have ruined everything!

"Wait here," she said, dropping his hands and taking off.

Remy watched her fly down the side of the building and his heart sank. Had he just blown it? Was she coming back? And what had he forgotten that was so important?

A few moments later, Rogue reappeared with a mattress under her arm.

"_Chère_!"

Laughing, Rogue placed it down beside Remy, then fell into his arms.

Remy smiled at the absurdity of it all. God, she was perfect.

"You're right," he smiled. "I guess I did forget something."

"I'm always right, Cajun, so you'd better get used to it."

"Okay, _chère_, there's just one thing."

"What's that?"

"You are wearing far too many clothes."

Rogue bit her lip and turned around so that he could lower her zip.

* * *

When they finally made it down to the dance below, they didn't tell anyone what had transpired on the roof because they didn't need to. Kitty was the first to notice the ring and her squeal of delight attracted quite a few other over to them. If anyone noticed that Rogue's flushed cheeks and her slightly dishevelled hair, they were polite enough not to say anything.

Finally the frenzy of congratulations and questions died down, just as the night was drawing to a close. The slow songs were playing and Remy led rogue onto the dance floor.

Storm came to sit by Logan as he watched the happy couple dance, but his expression was inscrutable.

"You okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he cracked a smile and turned to her. "Just feeling odd, I guess. She's like family to me."

"Remy's like family to me too, so I understand."

"Yeah? Well just tell your boy that if he hurts her, I'll be coming after him."

Storm could tell that he was teasing and smiled.

Her gaze retuned to Rogue and Remy and she smiled. "They look so happy, don't they."

Logan looked over to see that they had stopped dancing, but were suspended about a foot off the floor, turning in gentle circles as they held each other.

"Yeah, they do," he said with a slight wistfulness.

Logan looked to the woman next to him. For so long he had avoided getting close to her, afraid of dishonouring Jean's memory, but that was what his walkabout had been for, to say goodbye.

Decision made, he held his hand out to Storm.

"Care to dance?" he asked.

Storm looked surprised for a moment, then smiled warmly and took his hand.

"I'd love to."

* * *

AN: Well, thanks for sticking with the story, i hope you enjoyed it. If you're suffering withdrawal, check out my new Romy fic, Desperado.


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